The Red HotBlooded Habanero!
by Fallen-Gabriel
Summary: Naruto lives with his single mother, Kushina, who owns and works at a coffee shop across the street from a detective building where a strange man works. Finding herself drawn to him, she gets more than she bargained for.
1. Chapter 1

In this story Naruto's mother – Kushina – is alive and a single mother to her young son (Naruto is sixteen in this story) and meets a peculiar man at the coffee shop she owns and works at. He turns out to be a detective who smokes, drinks (sometimes), and is flat out rude but she finds herself drawn to him.

Chapter 1 – The Self Righteous

"Naruto!" The red headed woman yelled, dragging out his name, "hurry up and get dressed for school!" She stood in her small apartment living room, folding a boy's red t-shirt with a blue swirl on the front before sighing and yelling once more, "Naruto!"

The living room/dining room was the first room one would see when entering their small home – if one could call it that – and the kitchen had a bar overseeing the dining side of the room while a long hallway with three doors was past that. The room on the end was hers while the door on the right was her son's and the left one was the bathroom.

A clattering sounded as her son fell out of bed and no doubt sent the stacks of books on his bedside flying off. Kushina sighed and rubbed her forehead, _that's what I get for not making him do his homework earlier!_ She thought as she made her way into the back of the house to check up on her son who had been studying the night before a large test and finished two projects last night. _He is such a little procrastinator!_

Opening the door with a large frown already on her face which was soon replaced with an angry one, her hair flaring up in all directions, "little dobe!" She roared and lifted all the books off her son's spiky blonde head and sighed when she saw the nose bleed and placidness of his eyes. "Naruto," she groaned and sighed, sitting down next to him and rubbing his back. "Why do you do this to me?"

The boy finally regained consciousness and looked up at his mother, "oh hi mom," he said and slowly sat up. She grabbed a tissue from the box on top of his dresser and walked over to him, handing it to him, and watching as he gingerly rubbed underneath his nose. "I'm sorry…Guess I forgot about the books," he laughed and she couldn't help but smile at the clumsiness of her son.

"Well hurry up, or you'll be late!" Kushina said, standing up with her hands on her hips.

"Wait – what – oh yeah!" He scrambled up and around his room which caused her to leave, shaking her head.

"You are so cleaning up that room later!" There was a loud groan as if he was in pain and she just smiled, walking into the kitchen to prepare him lunch…Which was never very hard. Her mouth twitched as she placed a ramen cup in her son's lunch bag and a small can of soda. _Now since that duty of the day is over with._ She popped a piece of toast into the toaster and poured a glass of milk for her son.

She walked back into her bedroom and slipped on her uniform - _first day…_she thought as she walked out just as Naruto ran into the kitchen wearing a clean orange shirt with a blue swirl on the back and blue jean shorts. His red cleats rubbed the ground, giving off the sound of screeching before she heard a _glug, glug, glug - crunch_ and he ran and stood in front of the door. Kushina grinned and walked over; grabbing her purse from the hook by the door she walked out to the car with Naruto in the back seat.

"Did you remember everything?" Kushina asked as she pulled out of the parking space and Naruto nodded profusely from the back seat, munching down on the last bit of his toast, "okay. Here we go."

S-s-s-S-s-s-S

"Damn," growled the large dark skinned man as he sat up in bed, rubbing the back of his head to feel a slight bruise there. Looking around he shifted to see a dark haired woman with pale skin lying next to him and he grunted, "Shit." He through his legs over the side of the bed, opening his bed side table and rummaging around to take out a pack of cigarettes which he opened to reveal one left. A pair of dog tags gave a chirp from around his neck, sliding their cool forms against his chest.

His body bore scars, some down his back but quite a few over his chest. Two bullet holes in his shoulders while three long knife wounds pained his lower abdomen over his abs, while a long cut made over his heart and up to his left shoulder, over his collar bone. Three bullet holes made home on his right shoulder blade but he was thankful that his vest had taken the beating that time and that his brother had convinced him to wear one for that particular assignment while a tattoo of two black inked shuriken made home on this shoulders.

Putting it in his mouth he picked his pants up off the ground and finding his lighter lit it, glancing up to look at the wall when the woman in his bed stirred. He looked over his shoulder at her and then raised a hand to slick his hair back against his skull, "I really don't want to go to fucking work today." It was a rare time though when he called in sick so a hangover and a warm bed weren't going to be keeping him home today.

He stood up stretching his naked form before moving to the shower, the cigarette still in his mouth he stepped inside the stall and let the water soak his form. A tried to remember last night, he really did, but nothing came up and all he could really remember was the woman in there riding his length and going down on him. Stubbing out the cigarette on the wall he opened the door briefly to throw it in the trash can with practiced aim.

Closing the door again he looked down at himself and sighed. He'd never let a prostitute get in his pants ever, he just picked up women who liked one night stands as much as he did. A had never been to overly picky when it came to women, he just liked to know that they had a figure, a pretty face, and didn't get clingy when it was over. Sure cuddling was alright after the sex was over but once the **night** was over it was over, nothing more and nothing less.

Rubbing last night's experience from his skin he heard the front door slam and knew she was gone, he'd never see her again, and inwardly he was grateful for it. He rarely did this, got drunk and then picked up a woman and he wondered what had started this…Oh yeah…That's right. He grimaced at the sudden thought of a woman who he actually wanted in his bed and would gladly have her over numerous times...Tsunade.

They'd never had sex but the tension between them was almost killer and he found himself wanting to near smash her into a wall and fuck her but had been stopped when the commissioner walked in and ordered him to train the two new guys on the squad, some kids named: Darui and C. He'd nearly ripped the man's head off when he dragged him out and that was what had led to all of this.

He took a sharp breath when he thought of the woman in question but stopped when he felt his blood running south, he didn't want a repeat of last night…At least not soon. Getting out of the shower he grabbed a towel and wrapped it around his waist, making his way out to his bedroom to get dressed. He slipped on a pair of black boxers with his blue jeans and combat boots, his dog tags jingling on his chest, and his black t-shirt which was tight against his muscles. A pulled out a pair of sunglasses and then slipped on a black leather jacket and walked to the door, grabbing his keys and making his way out to the parking lot.

"Need to pick up some more cigarettes," he mumbled to himself, wincing when he felt pain spike through his skull, "and Tylenol." He backed up and then drove down the road; his truck was nice but not one of those shiny new sports ones. It rumbled when he sat at a stop light, eyes training against the early morning sun he growled, "damn sun."He turned on the radio and realized his brother must have messed with it because rap music blared out at him and he shut it off to save him the headache.

He slowed when he came in front of his building, turning into the parking lot with a churn of gravel he stopped when his truck was positioned. Undoing his seat belt he slid out and slammed the door, tossing his keys up and down to himself he looked across the street to a small coffee shop with a large red tomato near the sign. A sweat drop rolled down his head as he viewed it, "Red Hot-Blooded Habanero?" It was like somebody was playing a cruel joke and he stared at it with a curious gaze, "sounds more like a restaurant than a coffee shop."

He walked to the sidewalk and looked both ways before walking across the road, taking a step up he opened the door to a cool place where people sat chatting or laughing, it had a mellow feel and he felt himself relax under his surroundings. A stepped inside and stood in line – taking off his sunglasses -, eyes tracing the features of most of the people here and when he came up to the register he was faced by a **very**, very strange looking woman.

Her hair – the first thing he noticed – was a tomato red, all the way down to her mid back and her eyes were a shade of violet. She was thin no doubt but womanly curves could be seen through her suit and fair skin glowed under the lights of the shop. She wore a black shirt, slacks, and a dark red apron like all the other workers here and her tag read: Kushina Uzumaki. There was only one thing to say about her and that was that she was beautiful, just as beautiful – if not more so – than Tsunade.

A was momentarily stunned and she looked up at him, "can I take your order sir?" He shook his head to pull himself from his stupor and looked up at the menu.

"Black coffee." He murmured and she punched some things into the register.

"Okay that will be two dollars and fifty cents!" She said cheerfully and he fished out his wallet, they were cheaper than Starbucks that was for sure…He handed her the money and said nothing else, just moved away and she gave a quick - "thank you, come again!" – Before he shuffled to the other side of the counter. They put his order on the counter and he grabbed it without a word and the waitress almost looked scared of his hulking form.

He moved out of the shop and took a sip, pausing and then gulped several mouthfuls down. They were not only cheaper but way fucking better than Starbucks and he finished the coffee just as he was getting into the police station. "Yo, bro!" Called a voice to his left as he through the cup away in the trash can next to the door, and he turned just in time to see a shorter dark skinned man run towards him.

He was wearing jeans, a white t-shirt with a dark grey leather jacket on, and a pair of sunglasses shaded his eyes. He was also wearing a white bandana around his forehead which made him seem more like a criminal than a detective…Killer Bee. A slapped his palm against his brother's forehead and squeezed making the younger man cry out in shock, "you been messing with my radio again? Dumbass!" He roared and gave a final squeeze before releasing his brother who looked ready to collapse.

"Well somebody had to drive it back to your house since you took off in a cab with that woman last night!" Bee grumbled back, low, so that no one could hear but A still looked totally livid with his younger brother.

"Isn't any damn excuse to play with my radio, Bee!" A roared, poking his finger into the other's face, who had a very large sweat drop rolling down his head. "Don't touch my radio!" He growled and Bee nodded slowly watching his brother stalk away before he sighed.

_He's still got a hangover from last night…_He walked upstairs further into the building to get up to their sector and when they finally made it they were assaulted by a huge pile of paperwork. The two brothers were partners and they shared the work but Bee was mainly doing the paper work today because of the massive migraine his brother was suffering from. Bee sat down and put a few files on A's desk who fished out an ice pack and put it on his forehead.

"Those are yours," Bee said and A just through them back on his desk, flipping him the middle finger and leaning back in his chair. Bee shook his head and simply put them back over on A's desk, the older brother glaring at him for a second before lifting one of them up, flipping it open with his thumb since his other hand still held the pack to his forehead.

A grumbled and leaned over his desk, veins throbbing in his forehead with the force of his hangover. "Hey boss," came a voice from behind him and he looked over his shoulder to see the two new recruits, Darui and C. Darui had taken to calling him 'boss' because he trained them and C had started adding 'sama' onto the end of his name…Which didn't bother him probably as much as it should have.

"A-sama," C said with a slight bow and A nodded to the two of them, wondering which was the uke or seme of their little partnership. As if sending his brother's thoughts Bee punched his shoulder and when A turned to growl at him Bee shook his head. A grumbled and Bee wondered how much longer his hangover would last. Usually he wasn't that bad on a good day but when he had a migraine he could be a total ass.

The day dragged on and by late afternoon A was wanting another cigarette, having gone through most of the files his brother had thrown on his desk he stood up to go to the bathroom. Usually Bee was the one skipping work, either to go to the beach or see a movie and A hadn't missed a day of work in ten years. Ten years…Yeah, his life was that boring. A made his way to the other side of the floor and opened the bathroom door to see no one in there and walked over to one of the urinals. Unzipping his fly to the sound of the door behind him he looked over his shoulder to Bee who leaned against the door frame, the door closed behind him.

"What?" A asked and Bee shook his head.

"That's the tenth time this month you've had a woman over…And it's only the seventeenth!" Bee stated and A grunted, turning back to the urinal where he finished to a sigh from his brother across the room. "You've been off lately," Bee said as A zipped back up his fly and turned to look at his baby brother. "I think you should take a leave, you've got the best track record in the damn building. Take a break bro," Bee said and A growled.

"You know I can't do that."

"And why not?" Bee asked, arms folding over his chest.

"The Madara case," A whispered and Bee looked at the ground, his head still shaking.

"You've been after him for seven years bro…Seven years."

"We're getting closer," A stated and Bee looked at him again. His younger brother sighed and turned around, pushing the door open and stuffing his hands into his pockets as he walked out. "God damnit," he growled and made his way over to the sinks, practically taking the handle off when he jerked the water on.

A splashed water onto his face and then rubbed some over the back of the neck, watching the water till looking in the mirror at his reflection. He sighed and rubbed his eyes before flicking the water off his hands and leaving the bathroom. "I wonder what you're doing all the way over here," said a voice that had him looking up to the busty blonde lawyer of the office, Tsunade.

"Bathroom," he growled and started walking away but stopped when he heard her huff.

"There is one on your side isn't there?" She asked and he turned to look at her again.

"Closed for cleaning," he grumbled as his eyes raked over her chest and down to her hips.

"Ah, I see," Tsunade said knowingly before holding out a manila folder to him. He jerked it from her hand and looked rather shocked at the cover, his wide eyes turning to look at her. "You might want to look into it," she said and turned to walk away, hips swaying.

A watched her go and couldn't help but feel some blood move south through his body which made him growl and turn, walking back to the other side of the office. He sat down in his desk, next to Bee's – who had seemingly disappeared – before looking inside the strange folder. A eventually folded it up and then slipped in under his arm, making his way down stairs for his lunch break.

S-s-s-S-s-s-S

"Isn't that the same rude guy from this morning?" Amaya asked, pointing to a large dark skinned man who entered with a folder under his arm. Kushina turned to look up and grumbled to herself, _yeah that's him alright._ His white haired slicked back against his skull his eyes scanned the shop before he found a place to sit down, where he looked at his little folder.

Kushina was currently walking around and making sure everyone had what they needed and gave a mental sigh, _I better see if he at least wants something. _She thought and stomped over to his table, where she nodded to him, "can I get you something?"

"No," was his grunted reply and he never once looked up at her.

She felt something in her forehead twitch and she grumbled, a vein starting to show itself, "I was just coming over to see if you wanted something, **sir**."

He finally looked up at her and he seemed just as irritated if not more so by her, which made her own anger rise, "do you bother everybody that walks in here like this?" He growled and Kushina's hair started to spike up.

"It's called common courtesy to ask someone when they are a guest in your place to see if they want or need something," she said in a low voice, her hand slapping down on the table and the other on her hip as she leaned over to glare at him. "You could have just said 'no thank you' like a proper gentleman but you-"

"Kushina! I think they need your help over there!" A young dark skinned waiter said; he was at least eighteen and knew his bosses foul temper. He seemed to be trying to distract her from the man whose temper seemed to be increasing with her own and he began to sweep away from the two, his palms growing sweaty.

"Not now Takeshi!" Kushina snapped and the young man began sweeping in the other direction as she turned back to the man. She was about to say something but he growled low in his throat.

"Look if I order something will you leave me alone?" And Kushina's brow twitched for a moment before she huffed and then nodded. "Black coffee," he growled and she turned, leaving him alone but not before she heard him grumble, "nosy bitch." A sudden urge to turn and slap him was growing but she had a better idea in mind, walking to the bar and getting the coffee that was steaming hot she walked back over and growled.

"Your coffee…Sir," and proceeded to pour it on his head, which made him suddenly yowl in pain as it draped onto his leather jacketed shoulders, over his eyes, and down the chiseled lines of his face. He stood up suddenly, towering over her and she whispered sweetly with a grin on her face, "Oops I tripped." A stood there, teeth clenched and showing themselves, his hands open with veins throbbing in them, as if he were ready to strangle her but then he just turned and left, stomping out of the shop.

Kushina stood triumphant with a smile on her face, the cup still in her hand she threw it away and turned to see that everybody was staring at her. "Well, what are you waiting for? Get back to work!" She roared and they started up again, the occupants of her shop starting to talk about what had just happened in a winding buzz. She turned with an angry look which evaporated into surprise when she saw a folder lying on the table the man had been sitting at.

"He must have accidently left it here," she whispered as she picked it up, her small hands holding it as she examined one of the papers inside. "Madara Uchiha?" Kushina whispered and looked up out of the windows of her shop to see his retreating form, the top of his body still drenched in the coffee. She bit her lower lip as he made his way up the stairs of the police station and her eyes widened as she saw him go inside and she cringed, _I…I poured coffee on a cop!_ She slapped her forehead and mumbled to herself.

Kushina made her way to the back of the shop and into her small office where she did the accounting and management, shoving the folder into her backpack. "I'll just…Give it to him after work," she murmured and returned to the front of the shop. She **really**, really didn't want to see him again anytime soon…

S-s-s-S-s-s-S

Bee sniffed the air and looked up, sniffing a few more times he turned to see his brother, whose head was stained black and brown with dark streaks running over his face and down the tendons of his neck to his shirt. His jacket had dark blotches too and Bee bit his bottom lip to keep from laughing but when A finally got closer he asked – trying to keep his voice from hitching – "what happened to you?"

A looked at him with a death glare and Bee leaned away, his laughter stopping when he looked ready to iron claw him. Needless to say A grabbed the folders from his desk and some of the others from the stack before leaving the building, the door slamming behind him as he took the stairs down and Bee let out a deep breath, shaking his head. "Wow," he whispered and started back in on his filing and paper work.

A made his way to his truck, fishing his keys from his pocket he unlocked it and through the folders into the passenger side with little or no care. He slammed the door and cursed angrily as he started it and made his way home, pissing beyond belief he was almost thankful that he only lived ten minutes away. Getting out of his truck he grabbed the folders – picking up papers that had fallen out – and made his way to his front door, his boots clacking across the ground.

The sun was slowly sinking below the clouds so he had only left a little early today and when he was finally inside he slammed the door behind him and locked it. Throwing the folders down on his couch he got into his bedroom and knew he was going to have to send his jacket to the cleaners. Cursing again he threw it onto the ground and pulled his shirt off his head, throwing it somewhere as well before looking in the mirror at his hair. "Shit," he growled and looked at the stains all over it while he pulled off the rest of his clothes.

His dog tags jingled as he made his way into the bathroom; turning on the water he was taking a shower for a second time that day. He stopped though and turned the water off, making his way to the spare bedroom in his apartment he opened the door – tugging the blinds down – before lifting a large weight off the floor.

The room was dark, only the light from the hallway filtering in, he worked till the stress left him. Sweat rolled down the plains of his back and legs, following the tendons he shivered and panted against the silence that strained his ears. Droplets rolled down his bare arms and down the sides of his face, dropping to his chin before falling to the floor and he finally stopped after about three hours. The room was almost pitch black but he was burning, his sweat cooling him as he turned on the ceiling fan but not the light.

He sat down in a chair and panted, eyes straining against the gloom he thought about work and silently felt something twitch against his thigh. Taking a deep breath he lowered his hand to stroke the underside of his shaft and hissed with the heat and hardness he found there. Pausing he ghosted his fingers over the head and murmured to the darkness which seemed to suffocate him and caress him at the same time. Gulping for air he teased the slit and gave an almost silent groan in appreciation for when dribbled down the side of his length.

His muscles tensed and he breathed deep through his nose as he wrapped his whole fist around his length and began going up and down, his balls rubbing against one another he groaned when he felt more of his essence run down his sex. Raising his right hand to grip the back of the chair he tensed, his muscles and body rigid against the piece of furniture as he pumped his shaft for all it was worth.

Eyes wide he thought of Tsunade, her soft breasts pressing to his chest and he moaned loudly when his length twitched and spurted into the dark. Taking air through his mouth now he growled when he thought of her rubbing herself down on him, her tight heat just so…And he gripped the head between his thumb and forefinger, rubbing the skin there to give more. Just as he was about to orgasm he felt something sear across his vision, a pair of violet orbs and pink lips foreign to Tsunade's form…Rubbing against his chest and licking the scars there.

His eyes widened and a low groan escaped him as he felt his essence coat his hand and leave him in warming jets, the thick liquid laying over his hand he panted, body relaxing against his chair he panted. "Wh – What the hell…Was that?" He asked the dark which furled around him and he stood shakily from the chair. A made his way to the bathroom and as he was cleaning himself off he realized what he had been thinking of during his little fantasy and the answer had him reeling.

"That woman?" He questioned eyes wide as he stared down at the tiled floor of his shower stall. He rubbed his hair and cleaned it, shaking his head and writing it off as some sort of fluke but he suddenly paused. "Oh Hell no," he whispered as he thought about earlier that day…He'd left the file in the shop.

"Son of a bitch!" He roared and cursed, slicking back his hair and closing his eyes with a powerful sigh. "Fuck," he whispered and finished his shower, stepping out to wrap and tie a towel around his waist. A stepped out into the hallway and fished up his phone book but stopped when he saw the time…There was no way they would be open at ten at night. Cursing to himself again he made his way to this room and simply threw his towel off and smashed his face into the pillow with an angry grunt.

Closing his eyes he found himself fast asleep in a few mere moments…

S-s-s-s-S-s-s-S

I promise that A will not always be like this but he is a bit different in our world, this isn't the ninja world so yeah. R&R please!


	2. Chapter 2

There was quite a bit of confusion on who wrote this piece and I must say that I am **not** "Just Sword" and that this is a **multiple-chapter** story. There will be more and I am now taking anonymous reviews along with signature ones…So feel free (whoever you are) to R&R.

Chapter 2 – Silence is Perfection…

_Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage._

~ Lao Tzu

Kushina sat up in bed and yawned. Her first day of work had been pretty good…And today was just Saturday. She had two days off, Sunday and Wednesday but today was a nice way to end a work week for anyone else. She stood up, undressing and making her way to the shower to wash her hair and form of yesterdays troubles…A particular one returning to her.

Kushina stopped and huffed to herself, the white haired, dark skinned man punching his way into her brain. There was a long pause and she thought to herself for a moment…_there was something I was supposed to…_It came back to her in a flash and she smashed her forehead into the wall of the shower, groaning to herself.

A second later she heard a yell from her teenage son, "mom! Are you alright? I heard a bump!" And she smiled to herself as the water rained down on her.

"Yes, I'm fine Naruto!" She yelled back, touching her hand to the door of the shower, her hand leaving a print which was steamed over seconds later. The yellow towel on the counter across the way made tears prick at her eyes but she rubbed them away quickly, whispering to herself, "Minato…"

_Flashback_

"_I'm going out!" The blonde-haired man yelled, the light of the afternoon sun reflecting down the breeze way to shine on his hair which glowed. "I'll be back in a little bit just have to pick something up from the office…I'll bring pizza back!" A cheer could be heard as a small child ran down the hallway – at least ten years old – to embrace the man leaving. His blue pajamas had red and orange swirls on them while a dog appeared to be eating his head._

"_You'll bring it home daddy?" He cried cheerfully and his father smiled at him._

"_Of course," he said, rubbing his chin into the locks of blonde on his sons head. "I'll see you later Naruto," he stated as he walked away and his child slowly closed the door behind him._

_He ran back into the room and Kushina smiled at him, a bright and happy Sunday…_

"_Can we go to the park mommy?" The boy asked, jumping up and down and Kushina would be damned if she said she wouldn't spoil him today._

"_Of course we can Naruto!" She said and her son gave a great cheer, "you have to get dressed first though!"_

"_Okay!" He yelled and ran to his room, his bare feet giving soft thuds as he made his way to his room. Shaking her head Kushina took off her white apron and made her way to her room to find her baseball hat, their home smelling of chocolate from the cookies in the oven. Her son came out of his room wearing a pair of blue jeans shorts, an orange shirt, and a pair of blue tennis shoes._

"_Alright, we can go now!" Kushina said as she pulled the cap on and her son gave a wide smile, showing some of his missing baby teeth. He grabbed her hand as they crossed the street, hopping up and down to follow her and she barely seemed to notice as he jostled around beside her. The sun beat down on them and Kushina sat down on the bench to watch her son run around._

_The park was virtually deserted and the wind whipped leaves through the air, surrounding her and running the sand around the bottom of the play set over to her and she held up a hand to keep it from getting in her eyes. Naruto ran around and made noises, jumping on the swings before scaling up to the slide to go down it and Kushina watched with a smile on her face._

_As he started hanging on the monkey bars she heard a sound behind her and turned her head to see someone coming up behind her. His hair was long and spiky, the darkness of it reflecting the sun. Kushina's eyes widened when she saw that his eyes were a black shade and his skin was very pale, seeming to glow in the light. He wore a dark red turtle neck shirt with black pants, boots, and a long black leather jacket._

_He stopped beside the bench and then sat down, leaning forward to look at the ground and Kushina watched him for a brief moment. "Cute kid you've got there," he whispered, his bangs obscuring his eyes and Kushina looked taken aback, "he wouldn't happen to be Minato's son…Would he?" When he turned to look at her she felt something twist inside her, her heart wrenching in her chest. Sweat rolled down the side of her face and she shivered…His eyes were now a burning crimson and a smile started to curl his features._

_Kushina slowly stood, making her way over to Naruto and picking him up, making him look at her in confusion. "Mommy?" He said and she turned to look over her shoulder to the bench but saw that the man was gone. Her eyes widened and she gulped, looking around with wide eyes but saw no one there and slowly turned her whole body._

_She made her way back to her apartment with her son in her arms, who looked around with wide blue eyes and she felt something watching her the whole way back. Kushina sat him down and then turned to lock the door, all three locks coming into place. She stood there with her right hand on the lock while the other was on the handle._

"_Naruto…" He looked up at her with wide eyes._

"_Mommy?" She turned to him and then nodded; making her way around the house and locking all the windows, pulling the shutters closed…Anything to keep those eyes away. As she locked the last window she heard the TV in the other room and walked back to the living room to find Naruto staring at it before he smiled._

"_Mommy! Daddy is on TV!" He cried and Kushina looked taken aback before moving forward to look at the screen. Eyes growing wide she clapped her right hand over her mouth, her left arm coming up to grip her stomach as she fell to her knees._

_Something inside her twisted in pain, tears leaking from her eyes and choking sounds leaving her as she let her forehead fall to the carpeted ground. Naruto fell to his own knees and gripped his mother's back, trying desperately to understand. "Mommy…Mommy what is it?" And he started crying just because she was, his eyes leaking tears._

_End Flashback…_

"Mom you almost done in there? Half the hot water must be gone by now!" Naruto groaned outside and Kushina shook her head to pull herself from her memories. She stepped out and grumbled to herself before drying herself off and stopping to stare at the towel for a brief moment before rubbing her head dry.

"I'm out right now Naruto! I'm sorry!" She giggled on the other side of the door to her son's pained groan. Kushina slipped on her work clothes and walked into the kitchen to hear two men laughing at the table…Naruto's and…She peaked over the bar and grinned when she saw the silver shining hair of none other than Kakashi Hatake.

"Huh?" He looked up at Kushina, the scarf he wore loping over his shoulder she could see the lines in his face move when he smiled at her. "Oh, hello Kushina!" He raised a hand to wave in greeting and she nodded to him, "I hear your coffee shop did quite well for its first day!" Kakashi was wearing some dark blue suit with a crimson red tie and a white t-shirt.

"Oh yeah, we did pretty well I think!" Kushina said, setting her chin in her palm to view the two sitting at the table.

"And I also heard you made quite the spectacle of yourself when you poured coffee on some cop or detective!" Kakashi said, his eye crinkling at the corner to exhibit that he was indeed smiling.

"Ah…Well…" A sweat drop rolled down the side of her head and her open mouth twitched. "I just…He made me mad and…Never mind." She gave up and slammed her forehead down on the counter, _I'm…So stupid…Ugh…_ "Wait a minute," she whispered and turned to move back into her bedroom. Grabbing her book bag she looked inside to the manila folder and felt a very large sweat drop roll down her head. "I…I have to give this back," she groaned and flopped face first onto her bed, groaning into the sheets, "why me…"

Kakashi and Naruto stared at her in the doorway, exchanging a confused glance with the other before turning to look at the red head in the bed. "Mom?"

Suddenly she sat up, jumping up around, throwing her arms around, and random punches in the air, "bastard! Why do I have to give him back his stupid little folder! He's such a dick! Why me damnit!" Naruto and Kakashi looked taken aback, holding up their arms before scrambling back down the hallway away from the rampaging woman, whose hair was flaring up in all directions.

Kushina was out the door five minutes later, the two men cowering behind the kitchen table to evade her anger when she stomped out. She drove to the shop, parking out front and made her way inside, **everybody** getting out of her way when they saw her. Kushina made her way into her office and sat down before placing the file into the cabinet beside her and then closing it. "This sucks…"

S-s-s-S-s-s-S

A slowly opened his eyes, the sun streaking through his window to touch over his sharp features. Lifting a hand to block the light he grunted, his eyes narrowing as they adjusted to the light. One of his blinds was broken, allowing the sun to stream through onto his face and he groaned when he sat up, rubbing the back of his head. _At least it's my day off;_ he thought as he stood up and got dressed.

Pulling a white t-shirt over his head and slipping his blue jeans on he looked for another jacket and found a black hoodie he rarely wore but slipped it on over his shoulders. Zipping it up somewhat he looked around and picked his leather jacket up off the floor, giving a sigh of agitation he walked into the kitchen to get some breakfast. Throwing the jacket on the counter he pulled a power drink from the fridge and took a few gulps before taking the time to actually think about what he was going to do today.

The file…He suddenly opened his eyes and his hand clenched around the can in his hand, the metal giving a slight cry as it was bent under the force of his fingers. "Damnit," he growled and grabbed his jacket and keys before walking out the door. Not even stopping to buy cigarettes he made his way to that coffee shop to get what he needed, slamming the door of his truck in the parking lot of the shop he stomped up to the front door.

"I hate this," he growled and tugged open the door to the same cool and relaxed atmosphere as yesterday. A looked around and found that tomato red hair across the room, wasting no time in making his way over to her he grabbed her by the shoulder, "hey!"

Sure enough a pair of rather irritated violet eyes looked up into his dark orbs which made hers turn into one's of surprise. "What do you want?" She snapped, holding some jug of ice tea and his eyes narrowed considerably.

"Where is my folder," he hissed and she turned around with a _hmph_, her red hair slapping his chest. "Why you little," he started but suddenly she turned, walking away with her nose in the air.

His jaw dropped and he followed her, veins throbbing in his forehead. A growled and kept up with her as she made her rounds and finally when they were at the front counter she spoke. "I will not give you back your folder unless you apologize to me," she said turning to him, holding up a finger and A's jaw dropped.

"I ain't apologizing to you! Give me back my stuff woman!" He growled, "I could charge you for withholding information from the authorities do you really want that?"

"I didn't see anything about it being an official document," she said, shrugging her shoulders and eyes closed with a serene look on her face as if she were innocent.

"Well now you do! Give it back!" He nearly roared but she simply gave another _hmph _before grabbing the jug of tea from the counter and moving to brush past him but she tripped. He reached out his arm and grabbed her but in the process ended up with her whole left breast in her palm…The look of shock and horror on both their faces was priceless for that single moment when it seemed to register what was happening.

Outside the shop two girls were walking by but stopped and turned to look in utter shock as they heard a loud _crash, bang, clang, _and then a deafening _slap!_ Before they heard, "YOU BASTARD! YOU JUST FUCKING GROPED ME! WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU?" They heard a feminine cry and ran by, scared for their lives as A emerged from the shop, eyes closed and his right one twitching. A huge red welt in the shape of a small hand touched his left cheek and he slowly closed the door behind him without another word and made his way to his truck.

A got in his truck, grumbling to himself and turned it on, sitting back in the seat with the left corner of his mouth twitching, "that…went well." He pulled out of the lot and made his way over to a bar he liked to visit, slipping inside he sat down at the end and asked for a light beer. It usually was against his policy to get drunk in the afternoon but today he decided to at least get a little tipsy from his recent experience.

"You alright buddy?" The man behind the counter asked as he dried a glass, eyes looking at the red welt on the left side of his face.

"Oh yeah…I'm just peachy," he growled back and the man – as if sensing he wanted to be left alone – moved to the opposite side of the bar. "Nosy bastard," he growled when the young man was out of ear shot and sat the bottle down on the counter when it was half full, spinning it against the wood he sighed. All the sudden he didn't even feel like getting even tipsy and through the money down on the counter before making his way back out to his truck.

Sitting in there for a brief moment he drove back to his apartment and slammed the door when he got there, feeling suddenly very pissed for no good reason. Going inside he made his way to his room and went to lie down but stopped when his foot came into contact with something under the bed, "hm?" He said as he looked down, eyes training on the bottom of his bed.

A knelt down and pulled an older wooden box out, undoing the latches he slowly opened it. Inside were a few old folders and he slowly went through them with a bored expression till he came to the one at the very bottom, his hand tracing over the edge of the brown cardstock of it he tugged it out and opened it slowly. What came into his sight shocked him…It was a picture of a man he used to know…Minato Namikaze.

Staring at the picture before him for several long seconds, the blonde locks and happy smile looking back at him his eyes widened as he sat on the bed. _Fool_; was one of the first words that entered his mind when he looked on Minato but another one slowly entered…_Father._ He held the file in one hand and bit the thumb of his other hand as he stared into those blue eyes.

_Flashback_

_A turned to look over his shoulder when he heard the door open behind him and smirked at the sight of blonde hair and a happy smile: Minato. He turned back around and sucked his top teeth when he saw the man go to the desk in front of A's and start looking around for something. A sat at his desk and watched the blonde and felt a vein throb in the upper portion of his forehead._

_Minato gave a little cheer when he found it and grinned, "Got ya." A heard him whisper as he stood and when Minato came into range he bumped shoulders with him._

"_Watch where you're going punk ass!"A growled and Minato looked up at him with a suddenly expressionless face._

"_Please…I'm not in the mood A-sama," he stated and moved to walk away but A grabbed him by the collar of his shirt to face him._

"_What did you just call me?" A roared and Minato stood there on his tip toes, only moving when he blinked. He slowly brought his hand up and uncurled A's fingers from his collar – who was by now – seething with rage._

"_Its proper respect A, I'm just getting something and then I'm going to go pick pizza up for my son and wife," he gave a smile. "He really does love the stuff," and A released him with a sudden growl._

"_Yeah should have known you of all people would wuss out on a fight Minato! Go home to your fucking kid!" A growled as he watched the blonde from over his shoulder, the man giving a smile._

"_Thank you, I'll see you tomorrow!" He waved and then turned, jogging out of the building with a manila folder under his arm. A gave a grunt and then turned, starting to wind around the office to copy, file, and write up his latest reports. When he passed by Minato's desk – in front of his own – he looked to see two pictures, one of a red-headed woman grabbing onto his shoulders in a hug from behind and a small blonde haired child with a grin to match his own. _

_A's eyes narrowed and he slammed both pictures down on his desk with a growl, walking away to go back to his own work. It wasn't ten minutes later he heard a flash report come on and as he turned to look at the screen he felt his eyes grow wide and his hand twitch at his side. He felt something in him stir and he clutched at his chest, another picture of a dark haired man with black eyes going up next to the blonde's picture._

_He moved away, feeling like he may actually be sick before he sat down in a desk chair and when he got his breath back he looked up to see that he was sitting at Minato's desk. A's hand shook, eyes growing wide at the sight of his own nervousness as he slowly pulled the pictures up to see the two faces of wife and child. Husband…Father…Rival…Friend…_

_End Flashback_

A stared at the photo and something in him clicked, remembering the red head from the shop…_It couldn't be…_He thought as he looked through the papers. _It's not…_A stopped when he came to a personal record on the blonde haired man…Spouse: Kushina Uzumaki. His eyes grew wide and he felt sweat roll down the side of his face when he saw a pair of violet eyes framed by red come into his vision. "It's…" He whispered, dropping the folder to the ground to bring his hands up to clutch his face.

"Fucking bastard," he growled to a man who was no longer living, "you did this on purpose," he whispered but there was no response to what he said. "I should have fucking known from the start," he grumbled and lie back in his bed to stare at the ceiling.

He slowly stood up and then moved to take a shower, suddenly feeling rather sick and wondered if he was going into withdrawal for not having a cigarette in so long. Washing his hair and stepping out he dried off and slipped into a pair of blue jeans before flopping down on his couch, hair still wet and thinking silently to himself before he heard a knock on the door. A grabbed the remote and flipped on the TV to a random station…Lifetime…What the fuck? He grumbled when he heard the knock on his door again and sighed, standing and making his way to the door, looking out the keyhole to see the top of Bee's head.

"Fucking kidding me," he grumbled and opened the door to find his younger brother staring up at him. "What do you want?" A growled, hand still on the knob as he leaned against the wall.

"First," Bee said, walking in without an invitation and poking his brother's chest "put a shirt on. Poke someone's eye out…" He trailed off and made his way into the kitchen with a growl from his older brother.

"What the hell do you want Bee?" The older man grumbled as he slammed the door, locking it back in place behind him.

"Just wanted to see how you were doing," Bee said as he grabbed one of A's power drinks from the fridge and took a few gulps, sitting on the counter. "Besides, I heard you had a nasty little encounter with some red head in the new shop across the street," Bee chuckled and A's eye twitched.

News traveled fast…

"Some of the guys saw it and told me about it when they got back," Bee offered and took more sips from the drink, "Is that where you got that nice new bruise?" He chuckled, pointing to A's cheek, causing A to glare at him, "you were talking about getting something back from her that you left there the other day right?"

A grunted and nodded, "yeah but the bitch told me she wouldn't give it back unless I apologized."

Bee's brow furrowed when he used the term 'bitch' and he shook his head, _knowing your temper I may not blame her._ "You were never really good with women you didn't want to get the pants off of," Bee stated and A's palm was attached to his forehead a second later.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" A roared and Bee nearly spilled the drink. A finally released him and leaned against the door way of the kitchen once more – folding his arms over his chest –, Bee recovering from the abuse a moment later. "You remember Minato?" A asked and Bee sat up, looking rather shocked.

"Yeah, he was that cool guy with all the blonde hair right? What about him?" He took another gulp of the drink and A nodded.

"She's his wife," there was a long pause and Bee slowly removed the can from his lips. Several tense moments followed, Bee's glasses flashing in the dim light as his eyes fell to the ground.

"That means he'll be after her right?" Bee asked and A nodded, eyes watching his brother's face. "So what do we do?" Bee whispered and A shrugged.

"Set up a surveillance team…Maybe put them in that witness protection thing?" Bee shook his head.

"You know they wouldn't do that…Not unless they thought he was a real threat on their lives. But nobody has seen a wink or a whisper of him in five years. We don't even know if he's still alive!" Bee's voice started to rise but A snapped back.

"He is!" Bee looked taken aback and after a few seconds A continued, "I know he is…I can feel that bastard."

"Than what do we do?" Bee asked and A looked up at him.

"I guess the only option left…Is an undercover mission."

S-s-s-S-s-s-S

R&R please!


	3. Chapter 3

Alright I've gotten a few people PMing me on the basis of they don't like this pairing…A few words for you. It is called **fanfiction** for a reason, pairings like these **do not** happen…Unless the author pulls a fast one. Thank you.

Chapter 3 – The Undercover…

_A man who dares to waste one hour of time has not yet discovered the value of life._

~ Charles Darwin

"This is the stupidest plan you have ever had Bee," A growled as he stood outside the coffee shop in a grey t-shirt, jeans, and his newly cleaned leather jacket.

"You got a better idea?" Bee asked angrily, looking over at A with a raised brow causing the older of the two to grumble.

"I still think it's stupid," he mumbled, arms folded over his chest and Bee shook his head with a sigh.

"Look, just go in there, apologize, and then casually ask her to go out with you…Or something like that." Bee stated, making hand gestures to signal to his brother.

A turned his head to the sky and groaned, biting his lower lip in agitation before turning back to his brother, "yeah, yeah I know the plan." He pushed past him and into the shop and Bee felt something wash over him and he felt a large sweat drop roll down his head as he followed him inside. _All the sudden I don't have a good feeling about this,_ Bee thought as he sat down at the bar, _maybe I should just…Sit here and make sure he doesn't do anything stupid._

S-s-s-S-s-s-S

A made his way to the side of the shop she was on, her hand wrapped around a canister of ice tea which was dispensing to customers with a warm smile. He stood there behind her and he sniffed the air, the powerful scent of cherries and the spices of coffee and tea met his nose and he found he rather liked the smell. A watched her move, and noted that she was rather graceful and her smile was bright and warm, almost making him smile. _What the hell?_

She turned suddenly and the tea splashed suddenly down the front of his shirt but he moved back in time so that his pants weren't hit…He may have been big but he was fast. Looking up at her in shock he saw the jug in one hand and her other hand had clapped over her mouth as she looked at him with wide eyes. "I am so sorry," she whispered with a grimace and he gave a slight chuckle, feeling a vein throb in the upper portion of his forehead.

Kushina's lips pursed and she looked ready to laugh but managed to hold it back. Takeshi brought a towel and she rubbed A's stomach with it, him eventually taking it from her and rubbing it a bit himself. "Uh…Yeah, I came here to…Uh, apologize." He murmured, holding the cloth in his hands and Kushina nodded, eyes tracing his face and he coughed slightly.

Her brows rose and she looked at him with a slight smile, "I'm waiting…"

A's mouth twitched, his face twitching in slight irritation, "I…I'm sorry."

"For?" She whispered and his jaw fell, closing quickly and he seemed to struggle just a little bit before his teeth ground and he growled.

"I'm sorry I called you a nosy bitch…And for," he paused, "what happened yesterday." Her face reddened at the memory of being groped and she felt her lips purse again before she nodded.

"I suppose you'll want that file back," she whispered and he nodded slowly, "follow me."

He followed her back through the shop to the back and watched as she pushed through a door and they were in a small office. She went behind the desk and he heard a shuffling, more shuffling, and then a nervous laugh, her red hair and violet eyes peaking from behind the desk. "Uh…I uh…Could you come back tomorrow?"

"Why?" A dragged out the word with a raised brow and she scratched her cheek with a dainty finger.

"Well you see…I emptied out my book bag last night and…It fell out." She scratched the back of her head, laughing nervously with sweat rolling down the side of her face. Kushina opened her eyes to see a few veins throbbing in his forehead and hands, eyes closed and the right one twitching dangerously.

"I see…Well," he turned and was about to leave but he stopped and she watched him turn around to look at her. "Would you uh…"he stopped and ground his teeth for a moment before growling – to where she couldn't hear, "would you go out with me?"

"What?" Kushina asked, her brow furrowed and an eyebrow rose, "what did you say?"

A took a deep breath and said more clearly this time, "would you go out to dinner with me sometime?" Kushina's mouth fell open and a blush spread over her face and he almost wanted to ask her if she knew she looked like a tomato. The moments felt like hours and they just stood there and A felt something creep over his cheeks, a rather warm feeling as they stood there awkwardly.

Kushina wasn't sure how to feel in this moment, her lips pursed and eyes watching him she bit he lower lip as if debating. She hadn't gone on a 'date' in at least five or six years and the towering colossus of a man before her may not be the best way to jump into the dating world. Sure he may have been sort of good looking but he was also loud, angry, and rude, although she was sure that was nothing a little woman's touch couldn't fix.

But now she was actually thinking of a long time relationship with him? Her mind was reeling and she stood there, torn between a 'no' and a 'yes' but somehow she ended up leaning to 'no'. "Uh well…" she started but suddenly the door behind A opened and young Amaya entered. "Yes," Kushina squeaked and A turned to look at her with a grin.

"Okay I'll pick you up here at eight," he murmured and left with a triumphant grin on his face while Amaya looked in confusion from his retreating back to Kushina – who looked ready to die – and then back to Kushina as he left the shop.

"What just happened?" Amaya asked, her mouth twitching at the sight of her boss who had a comical look of utter defeat on her face as she sagged to the ground and fell into her chair. Kushina through her head back and groaned, looking like liquid in the chair, "Kushina?"

"I…Now, have an unexpected date," Kushina said, looking at the wall with a twitching smile, "great." She grumbled and Amaya turned to look out the door and then slipped inside to close it behind her.

"With the guy that just left?" Amaya asked as she looked up at her and Kushina nodded against the back of her chair and Amaya gave a girly squeal, making Kushina look at her. "At least he's well built…Really well built, he was kind of hunky." Kushina's mouth twitched on the young girl but she knew that Amaya had a thing for body builders.

"So," her assistant dragged out the word and Kushina raised a brow at her with a frown, "what are you going to wear?" A cheshire cat grin came across her face but Kushina looked horrified.

"You're asking me that? Really?" Kushina cried and looked at her as if she were crazy before she sighed, "of course than again I probably have no other choice…"

"Oh wait…You haven't gone out in years," and Kushina turned to look at her with a raised brow, "I bet you only have old clothes! Nothing for a date! Come on," and suddenly she was pulled from her chair by Amaya and taken to the door, "we are taking the rest of the day off and going shopping!"

"Wait Amaya," Kushina called but they were already half way down the road, "wahh!"

**6:00 o'clock…**

"Is…Is that what you're wearing bro?" Bee asked, with wide eyes as he gazed at what his brother was wearing, pointing to his attire.

"Why?" A asked, looking at his brother with narrowed eyes, and then straightening the collar of his leather jacket. Bee sighed and walked into his room, he heard him fishing around and grumbled, standing to go see what he was up to. "What the Hell you doing?" Bee walked out holding a pitch black suit with a white linen shirt and a crimson tie. "What the Hell is that?" A asked, pointing to the attire that Bee laid out on his bed.

"That," Bee said, standing back to examine his work, "is what you are going to wear if you want this to last."

A's eye twitched and he made a face, shaking his head, and then proceeded to undress. Bee watched him and A stopped, "get the fuck out." Bee left as A pulled his shirt over his head and looked at the suit in front of him. Sticking his tongue out he slowly pulled it on but kept the tie loose so that he could at least breath before looking at himself in the mirror…He could work this somehow. A slipped on his leather jacket instead of the suit one and sighed in contentment, and when he walked out Bee facepalmed before shaking his head.

"I give up," her heard Bee grumble as he straightened his collar. A took off to the door when in another hour and made his way to the shop even though it was only about ten minutes away. He sat in his truck outside the shop and grimaced, sucking his teeth before rubbing his face and sitting there, staring into the darkness. He looked up at the fading sky and felt his eyes close, the nervousness in him rising till he thought of those red eyes.

Suddenly his eyes snapped open and he looked at the clock…He had another ten minutes to wait, and as he sat there he thought about a pair of blue eyes and glowing blonde locks. _I'm doing this to protect her_; he thought as he laid a hand over the wheel and gripped the leather there, _I'm going to catch that bastard…Once and for all_.

The clock struck the hour and he got out of his truck, letting out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding he walked to the door. He stood outside for a moment before coughing and walking inside, his dark eyes looking around for any sign of the red haired woman before a bubbly teenage girl appeared before him. "Hi!" Amaya cheered, rocking back and forth on her heals, "she's waiting for you back here!"

A followed her to that back room again and found Kushina's back to him but felt his breath hitch when she turned to face him. She was wearing a violet dress to match her eyes, a thin crimson silk corsage matching her hair wrapped around her shoulders and she was wearing the same colored heals. She didn't wear makeup – she didn't need to – and she had a small hand bag clutched in her hands. "You two have fun now," Amaya said and virtually shoved Kushina into A, who caught her as they were pushed out into the night. "And remember Kushina," Amaya said with a grin on her face, "you have to give me all the juicy details in the morning!"

Kushina blushed to the point where she looked like a tomato and A stood there, his mouth twitching with amusement. "Uh…We should um," Kushina started as she regained herself, "get going." A nodded and walked her over to his truck, and she tugged herself up into the seat with the help of a bar on the roof.

"You alright?" A asked and Kushina nodded as she strapped herself in without looking at him.

"I'm sorry about her…" Kushina started as A pulled out, glancing over at her every so often, "Amaya is a little…eccentric."

"Yeah I noticed," A chuckled and Kushina gave a nervous laugh beside him as he laid his arm on the arm rest between them and Kushina looked at his chiseled face. He was not ugly most definitely and his sharp features contrasted Minato's and Kushina stopped herself there. _You are __**not**__ going to compare him to Minato!___She thought to herself and took back to looking at him.

He cleaned up nice at least, his hands large and the dwarfed her own. His eyes and demeanor were callous and harsh; she could tell but something under lay his cold exterior. She studied his body and indeed this was a large and muscled man, the cloth of his pants hugging his thighs which bulged and she caught her eyes wandering a little north and then shook her head. _You're sizing him up on the first date? What the Hell is wrong with you Kushina?_ And she felt something queasy settle over her, _I'm an idiot…_

A noticed her stare and turned to look at her when they came to a red light, "you alright?" He asked and she nodded vigorously.

"Oh yeah," Kushina said with a passive smile, "I'm fine! It's just I haven't gone on a date in quite awhile."

A raised a brow as he turned his eyes back to the road as the light turned green, "that's surprising."

"Huh?"

"You not going on a date I mean…All considering you think men would be asking for you all the time," he said and felt a light blush on his cheeks before it faded really fast.

"Oh uh…Yeah…Uh," she felt suddenly nervous and blushed to herself, eyes staring down at the floor of the truck.

"No need to get all nervous," A said, closing his eyes for a brief moment before he pulled into a parking lot and Kushina looked up to see a nice Italian restaurant. "Yeah this is it," and he stepped out of the truck and she was about to follow but he jogged over and opened the door for her. Using his shoulder she jumped down and would have twisted her ankle had he not caught her properly.

His hands grabbed her hips and held her there and she noticed that his large palms near engulfed the whole bone before he released her and coughed slightly. "This looks nice," Kushina said as they walked over to the front door and he got it for her, _he seems to have spruced up on his manners too…_

As they were seated A coughed and grumbled, "order anything you want…I uh…Yeah." In truth A had quite a bit of money, he never usually ordered out and had never really been a spend thrift sort of person. Staring down at the menu he didn't know what to order an felt a sweat drop roll down the side of his head, _what is this? I don't even know what half this shit means!_

He let out a nervous cough and then played with his shirt collar and Kushina looked at him with a raised brow, "are you okay?" A nodded sullenly and tried to figure out what the Hell the menu meant while Kushina just stared at him as he frowned.

"What the Hell does that mean?" She heard him grumble as she sipped her water and she felt herself suppress the need to grin. He obviously had never eaten Italian before…Giggling slightly he looked up at her with a raised brow before grumbling to himself and looking back down at the list of things he could order. As the waiter came by A chose something at random and when he pointed to it he and tried to say it the red headed woman across from him looked ready to go into conniptions and he huffed.

"So," Kushina whispered as the waiter left and A shuffled around in his seat.

"So," he repeated, laying his hands on the table in front of him.

"Why did you choose to ask me out all of a sudden?" She asked as she laid her chin in the palm of her hand and she saw him fiddle with his collar again. _And I thought I was nervous...He is almost a physical wreck._ And it occurred to her that she didn't know his name…"Uh," Kushina whispered, "this may sound stupid but um," and he raised a brow at her as she bit her lower lip, "what is your name?"

The corner of his mouth twitched and she saw his right eye twitch too, "A." He stated and Kushina pursed her lips.

"A?"

He nodded and she started giggling. "What?"

"Well…It's just…I've never met someone with a letter as their name before." She said and kept giggling to herself as he gave a huff.

"Are you done making fun of me yet?" A asked and watched as she finally composed herself.

"Yes, I'm sorry," she whispered and A grumbled to himself while the waiter came by with a glass of wine for her and a coke for him…Since he was driving. The night dragged on and they talked a little here and there as they ate…It turned out that he had ordered a type of strange salad and she had ordered some flat bread pizza.

Kushina was getting drunk he could tell and for some reason he didn't mind, undoing the tie and letting loose a little bit just to ease himself. They eventually finished and he could tell from the blush on her cheeks that she was between tipsy and drunk. She held onto his arm and giggled about something only she herself knew about all the way back to the truck. He wondered if she knew that she was a light weight and inwardly rubbed his forehead when they got inside his truck.

Kushina was a quiet drunk he noted, only making little giggles to herself every now and again as he made his way back to her house. She'd told him her address during dinner – almost planning to get drunk apparently – and he had the decency to remember it…For some reason he didn't want to drag her back to his place.

With a churn of wheels and a quick jerk for speed bumps he pulled into a parking space outside of her apartment building and turned to her, letting out a breath of air before stepping out and going to her side of the truck. "I ca – can walk from here," she said as she swayed and A caught her as she stumbled out of the truck.

"Women," he grumbled and pulled her up into his arms bridal style, carrying her to the apartment on the first right he grunted and kicked it with his foot. A chose now of all times to note how much more smaller she was compared to him, her red locks flowing down the whole left side of his form, running to lope around his shoulder and chest. Kushina's eyes were glassy as she inhaled his scent in a sigh.

"You smell good," she murmured against his jacket and A felt the corner of his mouth twitch.

"Thank you?" A said it more as if it were a question and kicked the door with his foot a few more solid times till he heard a muffled: 'I'm coming, I'm coming!'

Kushina suddenly rose up by gripping the front of his jacket and kissed his cheek, and A looked at her stunned when the door opened to reveal a blonde haired boy with bright blue eyes. A almost dropped Kushina in shock and stared at the young child with wide eyes, "Minato?" He roared and Kushina looked at Naruto, her arms wrapped around the neck of the man who held her and she giggled.

"Oh hello Naruto!" Needless to say, Naruto looked horrified by the sight before him and pointed at A with his mouth dropped open.

"What the Hell did you do to my mom you pervert?" He roared and grabbed his mother from the arms of A, shielding her away from him with a large scowl on his face. A stood there, shoving his hands in his pockets, and sighed.

Looking down at the ground he closed his eyes and grumbled, "She got kinda drunk at the restaurant."

"Kinda, Kinda?" Naruto yelled and glared at him, "get lost!" He slammed the door and A heard the locks click back into place and he was sure if the boy didn't have his mother to worry about he would have belted him a good one…Or tried to at least.

A sighed and turned away, mumbled to himself as he got in his truck and drove home, turning it off and throwing the keys up and down to himself as he walked to his apartment. He stopped dead in the breeze way, his keys gripped in his hand he turned around and stared into the gloom with his brow furrowed. "Who's there?" He growled but nothing came, even so he could feel a burning gaze down his back and he stiffened against its cold calculated stare.

He smirked and he almost felt it become even colder as he stepped inside the warmth of his apartment and closed the door behind, turning the locks and standing there for a second longer. A listened for a moment before taking his hand from the knob and making his way to his room, stripping off his stuffy suit and slipping on nothing but a pair of jeans.

His phone rang and he picked it up to the sound of almost silent breath, "hello?" He asked but no reply came and he growled, "fucking litt-"

"Hello A," the voice whispered and he stopped dead, eyes wide, and sweat rolling down the side of his face as the phone lay there poised against his ear. "It's been a very long time…Too long I think," the voice hissed and A felt his jaw clench, teeth grinding against one another.

"Who are you," the detective growled and he heard a chuckle from the other side, the sound freezing him in place.

"Why…don't you remember me? It's Madara…Of course," and A felt his breathing stop for a fraction of a second before he growled. Rage filled him and his eyes narrowed on the wall in front of him.

"What do you want…"

"I want them of course…And you." Madara stated in a slow and calm manner, "You interest me deeply. More so even than the boy…I wonder how easy it would be to rend your flesh away…would it be the same as last time?"

A's teeth clenched as he felt the scar that ran over his heart to his left shoulder prickle with the memory, "I'll kill you," he growled and Madara laughed.

"No…Does his death still drive you? Does the death of your rival and friend Minato still course through you? Or is it something else now…Is it her? I wouldn't put it past you. You're the type of person that if even a single fraction of affection is given to you by another being you just fall to pieces." A felt something in him snap and his chest clenched.

"You don't even deserve to speak his fucking name! I'll kill you! Rip you to fucking pieces!" A roared and Madara chuckled.

"Oh but don't you see? That makes you no different than me!" He let out another chilling laugh that left A seething, "what would Minato think?"

A slammed the phone down, virtually breaking it and veins throbbed through him, the tendons in his arms, legs, and neck trembling with his rage. The white hot fury blinded him and in that second he lashed out, punching holes in the walls and leaving craters in furniture he fell to the floor and let out a cry of pain into the carpet, his arms wrapping up over his head he rocked there for a solid moment.

"I'll kill you…" he whispered, "I'll kill you…"

S-s-s-S-s-s-S

R&R please!


	4. Chapter 4

I thank "Ralf Jones" for the support and everybody else to continue this story, because I rather enjoy writing about these two together. I hope to update more along the way…Thank you.

Chapter 4 – "Black Coffee"

_In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life: it goes on._

~Robert Frost

Kushina bit her tongue and suffered through…She had a hangover. It wasn't a bad one and most certainly not the worst she had but still, every now and again her skull would burn with pain and a pounding would come when something loud would ring through the air or she moved her head to fast. She made her way to another customer and felt something like a knife stab into the back of her head and she grimaced against the pain.

That morning had been…Hectic to say the least. Naruto had freaked out and started sprouting off about a strange man dropping her off and words tumbled from his lips as he talked about how huge he was and how he came home with her drunk. Some things last night were a jumble and Kushina wondered what else she had done…And if she had done something wrong. She shivered at the thought and felt herself blush; _I hope I didn't do anything…Too bad._

She was told she was a quiet drunk so it wasn't like he would learn anything she didn't want him to, it was rather her actions she was afraid of. Kushina may have been known not to talk much but she was known to be quite rambunctious in her actions when intoxicated. She felt herself turning into a pile of goo on the floor as she clutched the broom in her hand and wavered against it.

A sudden ding ran through the air and she perked up to see who had entered…Only for her eyes to grow wide and her jaw to drop a second later. A walked in, wearing a tight fitting black v-neck t-shirt with a pair of old blue jeans that stretched over his thighs. His black leather jacket in place as always with a pair of black sunglasses over his eyes, and she mentally wondered if he always wore clothes that stretched his form…Or if there were clothes **big** enough for him.

Amaya stood beside her and whistled loudly, her eyes raking over his body and she looked at Kushina, waggling her brows. "So," she purred, "please tell me you got a piece of that last night!" Kushina looked horror stricken at the thought and Amaya yelled, "Hey, hunk, your girl is over here!" And she pointed to Kushina, winking at A, who felt his brow and the corner of his mouth twitch at her statement.

Kushina felt ready to die…Never in all her life had she been so embarrassed as she was now, and even when A walked over she could see the slight blush on his cheeks. He coughed slightly and Amaya skipped away with the jug of ice tea in her hand and Kushina leaned on the broom she held as not to collapse. "Uh," Kushina started, looking down at the ground with a blush, "I meant to ask…Did I **do** anything last night?"

"Well you uh," he pursed his lips and then coughed slightly, "you sort of kissed me when I dropped you off."

"I – what?" Kushina cried in dismay and half the people in the shop turned to look at her. She laughed nervously under their gazes and grabbed A's arm, dragging him back to her office and when the door was locked she turned to him.

"You kissed me on the cheek," he murmured before she had a chance to say anything but Kushina felt her cheeks burn like fire.

"I – I didn't mean to-"

"I know," he stated, "you were pretty far gone I think." A stood there awkwardly and rubbed the back of his neck, making Kushina's blush slowly fade. "So you wanna go some place tonight?" The abrupt question through her off and she looked back up at him.

"What? That fast!" She whispered and he nodded.

"Yeah, sure, why not? Plenty of people date throughout a week, but if you don't want to…"

Kushina shook her head, "sure but this time could we just have dinner at my place?" A looked rather taken aback but nodded. "I just don't want a repeat of last night…" He nodded again, understanding where she was going and she coughed slightly. "You know where I live right?"

"Yeah."

"Okay well, come by at eight and I'll have something ready by then. Naruto can go spend the night at a friend's I guess." Kushina whispered morally to herself and A just stood there for a long moment before she whispered, "yeah okay." And they stood there a moment longer, his eyes tracing her face and Kushina turned when she felt a familiar heat rising in her cheeks again.

_What is wrong with me?_ She thought as she lead him out of the back, _I usually don't get this nervous…He's just a man! _But underneath it all she knew that was a big fat lie. His eyes made her pause all the time and when he looked at her like that she couldn't help but feel like she was some sort of prey and he was the lion. Looking at him now though one would think he was a lion…

He went up to the counter and she heard his deep baritone from her position close by, "black coffee." A always ordered the same thing and she saw him sip it as he walked to the front door. Her mind wandered as some of the coffee rolled from the corner of his mouth and down to his jaw bone and she saw his lips part as he took a breath and then whipped the stray drop from along his jaw. Feeling a heat rise once more she shook her head and turned around to start sweeping again.

S-s-s-S-s-s-S

Bee watched his brother move to his desk with a mug of coffee which he sipped generously from before he sat it down. He leaned back with his arms behind his head and Bee wondered what had him so relaxed, "I take it that your date went well?" Bee asked and A's brow twitched before he nodded sullenly.

"Yeah it was alright." He growled and Bee saw his face twist up in something like agitation.

"Then what's the problem?" Bee said as he shuffled papers together, running his hands along the edges to see his brother's brow twitch.

"Nothing," A grunted but Bee could tell there was something wrong with his brother, so he pushed it again.

"You should tell me if something is bothering you bro," Bee grumbled and A turned to look at him before taking another swig from his coffee.

"I got a call last night…From Madara," Bee stopped when he was doing and turned to look at his brother.

"What did you say?" Bee whispered, rather exasperated and A's eyes narrowed slightly.

"He's back…He's coming for them," he hissed and took another swig of coffee, his brother looking at him with his brow furrowed.

"Why didn't you tell the chief?" Bee growled and A shook his head.

"Like he'd believe me…"

"He would have to," Bee's eyes narrowed on his brother, "this isn't just about you bro. This is about innocent people, you remember what Madara did last time he went on a killing spree don't you?" He pointed to a wall at the front of the office, a picture of a blond man with blue eyes staring back at them. The irony of Minato's photo being stuck right in front of his desk never ceased to amaze him…

"You don't think I don't know that?" A felt his voice rising before he slowly calmed down, "I'm doing this on my own."

"No, you're doing it for revenge…Closer? Is that what you think doing this is going to bring you?" Bee hissed and A just stared down at his desk for a long moment. His eyes narrowed and his fist clenched, before Bee growled, "it won't bring him back."

A looked at him in shock but it soon slipped into an angry glare, his face twisting up when rage filled him, "what do you know about it?" He snapped and stood, slapping the coffee off his desk and into the trash can before stomping out of the room.

Bee watched him go and then raised a hand to rub his forehead, feeling the need to follow he sighed and stood. Grabbing his jacket from the back of his chair he slipped it on and jogged after his brother, who was already out in the parking lot and moving with his whole body tense. Bee knew he was pissed but he had to talk to him, the older man slamming the door of his truck and backing up with a screech of wheels. Bee waved to him to stop but he just took off and Bee growled, moving to his car and getting inside he followed his brother.

_God damnit, _Bee thought as he sped after the large black truck and wondered when his brother had developed a lead foot and then chastised himself. His brother was known for his foul temper and it obviously spread driving. And Bee turned into the apartment complex to arrive a few moments after his brother. Walking quickly to his brother's door he knocked and heard nothing but the soft click of the lock and took a deep breath.

Stepping inside he smelt plaster and paint, the scent sickening the air and Bee tentatively stepped from the long hallway to the living room. His jaw dropped and he almost felt his car keys slip from his hand as the walls were littered with holes and deep marks, the furniture almost shredded to pieces. Looking around with wide eyes and an open mouth he gazed at his brother who was down on one knee, scooping up some plaster and then filling one of the holes in the wall.

"What the fuck?" Bee usually didn't use profanity, even in situations like this one, but some things just needed to be said. "Wh – What the fuck did you do bro?" The younger sibling roared as he stared at his older brother, A simply giving an exasperated sigh.

"You gonna just stand there or help me clean up this mess?" A asked, motioning to the walls and Bee shook his head and felt himself laugh, closing his eyes and rubbing his forehead.

"Oh…Oh bro…Uh, I don't know if anybody's told you this before but you got a really bad fucking temper you know that?" Bee snapped but moved to help A nonetheless, taking off his jacket and placing it on a relatively intact chair. Kneeling beside his brother they started over the walls and by late afternoon had finished the entire right wall and most of the central one. "This stuff better come out." Bee said, gazing around the room and A shook his head, plaster and paint on random places over their forms.

"Why did you do this?" Bee asked and A turned to look at him, giving another placid sigh before grabbing one of the power drinks he had set out during the beginning of his work. Opening it with a hiss from the can he took several long gulps down as Bee grabbed one too. "Was this **after** Madara called?" Bee whispered and his brother nodded slowly.

"Yeah."

"What exactly did he say?" Bee asked, looking at A with a furrowed brow. The older man sat there for a long moment before closing his eyes and taking a deep breath.

"He talked about Minato…Didn't really mention the other two but I know he's after Kushina and her son…" A murmured as he took another swig of his power drink.

"And?"

A seemed to struggle here but finally admitted, "he said: You're the type of person that if even a single fraction of affection is given to you by another being you just fall to pieces." And he took several more long gulps of his drink, his brother sitting beside him without a single word spoken. The long tense air that followed was enough to shatter glass and A was surprised that what Madara had said had drilled itself so far into his mind that he had memorized it just like that.

He'd said what Madara had so easily stated as if it were imprinted somewhere on him…And in truth it was. Somewhere deep inside himself, there was a fraction of what he was that admitted that what that bastard had said was true. Some bit of kindness from one person and he couldn't stand it, he filled his lonely existence with relationships that only lasted a night and Madara knew that. He saw right through him and A felt his head throb and his chest clench in anger.

"That's not true and you know it," Bee whispered and A didn't stop looking at the ground. His face was expressionless and his eyes half lidded but they slowly narrowed on the ground as he took in what Bee had said. Leaning back against the wall, his head upturned to view the ceiling he took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

_No Bee…He is right…_

**7:00 tonight…**

A slipped on a normal white t-shirt, a pair of newer blue jeans, and his leather jacket before slipping out the door, tossing his keys up and down to himself. Driving his way to Kushina's he felt rather nervous suddenly and he didn't know why. She only lived fifteen minutes away but he drove slow and took the scenic route which made it more like nineteen and he sat out in the parking space in front of her building for a few moments.

Turning off the truck he let out a deep breath and sat there for what felt like forever, Madara's words ringing still in his ears. "Bastard," he murmured to the darkness and slowly reached for the door handle. He felt his hand catch on something sharp and he hissed, pulling his hand back to see a long gash painting his palm and he let out a "tch," before reaching more carefully down to find his pocket knife.

The blade was long and it was unsheathed in a pouch causing it to cut itself through and show itself near the door handle. He tugged it out and let it slip back inside with a soft _click_ before he looked at his hand…Damn. Letting out a little hiss he looked for something to cover it up with but found nothing, balling up his fist and feeling the blood curdle there he took a napkin from the arm rest in the middle and cleaned up the blood. He could disinfect it once he got inside right?

Stepping out into the night he walked into the breeze way and knocked on the same door as he had the other night, his bleeding hand tucked into the pocket of his leather jacket. The door slowly opened to reveal Kushina, dressed in a long black dress that was down to her ankles with a split all the way up to her thigh. "A?" she whispered and looked up at him, "you here at least twenty minutes early." Kushina chuckled but motioned him to come inside anyway.

"No one can ever say you aren't punctual," she said and made her way to the kitchen. "The bathroom is to your right if you need to go! And you can watch TV if you want to!" He could hear a chopping as she cut up some vegetables and he slipped inside her bathroom without a single word. Closing the door behind him he washed his hand, the warm water curling over his gashed palm he hissed and rubbed the soap over it.

He looked around for bandages but stopped when all he saw in the cabinet was soap, toilet paper, and feminine products. Brow twitching he made his way back to the living area and simply curled his fist so that the blood wouldn't flow as he waited for her to finish cooking.

Kushina came out and was rubbing her hands dry as she looked at him, "dinner should be ready in a moment." She laughed and stopped to look at him, "A?"

"Yeah?" He said, turning to gaze at her with his dark eyes.

"Are you okay? You haven't said a word since you got here." Kushina said as she sat down next to him and A gave a slight cough.

"I've just had a hard time at work…Some stuff came up," he murmured as his fist clenched against his knee where it sat, the blood starting to peak through his knuckles a little bit. If it was one thing A never wanted to admit it was that he needed help with something. His stubborn and headstrong nature forbade him to ever ask for a shred of help from anyone else and mostly kept him on his own.

Kushina's brow furrowed and she looked at his hand, bits of red coming from in between his fingers she looked at him with a serious gaze, making him look at her with a raised brow. Without ever breaking his gaze she took his hand in both of hers and tugged on each of his fingers till his hand was exposed to her.

A looked away finally as she turned her gaze to his palm, running her fingers along the edge of the cut, the blood leaking into the ridges of his hand. His skin prickled when she did so, those smooth and soft digits running over his calloused skin and he felt them press lightly around the wound. Her scent wavered to his nose, the smell of cherries and the spices for coffee and tea clung to her.

She slowly stood and he heard a soft patter as her footsteps retreated and he moved to stand but before she was completely out of sight she turned to look at him with a gaze that made him sit back down. Kushina returned several moments later with a white cloth, alcohol, and gauze.

Taking his hand into her lap she slowly cleaned his wound properly and then wrapped it, her fingers effective in her work as she tied the knot. Kushina ran her fingers along the edges of the bandage to secure its place, rubbing gently till it was pressed to his skin and he felt his breath hitch when her nails scraped gently over his skin.

"There," she murmured, looking up at him with a slight smile, "all better." A looked rather taken aback, his large hand almost taking up her whole lap he flexed his fingers and removed his hand from hers. She was so small compared to him…He could probably snap her in half if he hugged her too hard and he grimaced at the mental image. Kushina stood and made her way back to the kitchen and A felt the tingling of in his skin slowly leave as her scent lingered over him and he shook his head.

"Well it's ready!" She called and A stood as she brought the food out and sat it down on the table. Kushina smiled at him and he helped her, his newly bandaged hand contrasting his skin and the metal of the plates. "So," Kushina started as they fixed there food, "what happened to your hand."

"I was in my truck and well," he tugged his knife out and sat it on the table, "I finally found my pocket knife." Kushina looked taken aback at his honesty and the fact that the long blade now sat on her table and she gulped.

"And uh," Kushina whispered, "why do you have that?"

"I got it from my dad," A stated, "it's really old actually."

"I see." She murmured and A quickly removed it, knowing that she might be…Nervous with it out. Tucking it back in his pocket they talked again like they had the last night, this time with her more clear headed all the way through dinner. Random things came up; she asked him where he worked and what he did. And the odd thing was that whatever she asked he answered truthfully, never once did he think to lie to her.

The night dragged on and when they finally finished he helped her with the dishes. He dried and she washed, and they even joked around a little bit. Kushina got a mischievous grin on her face and splashed some water on the detective who turned on her, growling as she flicked her fingers to scatter drops over his face.

"Hey!" He roared and whipped his face, only for her to do it again. "Why you little-"he held up an arm and cupped some water to throw on her. She laughed and did the same, her hair and face soaked by the time they were done, his entire abdomen and shoulder coated with water. Some ran over his face and down his neck, staining the front of his shirt as they laughed.

Once they calmed down and finished up the last few dishes A turned to her and threw a dishtowel over her head so that she could dry her hair and he used one to rub the moisture from his skin also. "You have a drier?" He asked and she nodded, pointing to the other side of the kitchen she pulled open a screen door and she turned just as he pulled his shirt over his head and threw it inside.

The gentle _thrum_ started as she dried her hair and by the time she was done he was still rubbing away at his head and she chuckled, rubbing the droplets from his face gently, his eyes closing as she passed the cloth over them. Kushina could feel the muscles tense and relax under her fingers, the cords of tension fading from him as he slowly ceased to wipe away the moisture and her hand proceeded down to his throat.

She felt his Adam's apple move as he gulped; the rippling of his skin separated only from her flesh by a single cloth. Kushina slowly ran the towel over the corded skin of his shoulders, the ridges moving under her hands and she felt a blush creep over her face as he stood there and watched her, his eyes glazing over as she ran the linen over his flesh.

A's breath hitched as she journeyed over the front of his chest, over the collar bone and the top of his abdomen. Kushina rubbed most of the wetness away proceeding down over the hard ridges of muscle there. He was so large, so much larger than her and it was almost frightening the amount of strength she could tell that he possessed.

Moving further down she rubbed his abs, the skin moving against her cloth covered palm and she slowly removed it once she reached the waistband of his pants. Kushina looked up into his dark eyes and felt her mouth open slightly to let out some sort of sound, to speak, but he cupped her cheek in his palm and pressed his lips to hers before she could respond. Their mouths met and Kushina didn't know how to respond as his musky scent filled her, the scent of the dish soap filling her nostrils as well as they kissed.

Her right arm came up and encircled his neck, while her left hand rested against his chest, and her lips responded slowly but surely to his. He tasted of the dinner, the smooth taste of the pasta lingering but something else mixed into it…A tasted rather not sour but smooth with a rather strange after taste. It was not unpleasant and she found herself liking it as he wrapped his arms around her waist but when his tongue ran along her lips she pulled back with a gasp.

She tasted delicious, like cherries and a combination of sweetness, with a hint of bitterness from the coke she'd drank during dinner. He liked her taste and murmured against her lips in contentment, eyes closing as he ran his tongue along the place between her lips only for her to pull back and he released her suddenly as well. Unwrapping his arms from her waist he sat back against the cabinet and they looked at each other, panting.

"I'm – uh – I'm sorry about that," he whispered and she stood there blushing.

"No its fine…Its just I didn't think that-"She trailed off and A slowly sat up and gave a slight cough.

"I should go, it's getting late." He murmured and she nodded.

"Yeah, okay…I'll – uh – see you tomorrow?" She hated how hopeful she sounded and turned to let out the water from the sink with a grimace and a mouthed curse word to herself.

"Of course," she heard him whisper as he went and grabbed his shirt, the drier door slamming and then the quiet rustle of his shirt as he pulled it over his head and back on. "I'll see you then," he said and picked up his jacket on the way out.

Slipping it on with another rustle of fabric he paused on the threshold of the door before opening it and walking out. The night air caressed his warmed form and he felt his lips prickle with the memory of hers and he mentally kicked himself. "Shit," he cursed and made his way to his truck to slam the door and drive off, anger coursing through him.

He was angry…With himself. A exited his truck and made his way to his apartment where he slammed the door and locked everything into place, throwing his keys on the desk and his jacket down on the floor. He took off his shirt and threw it on the ground of his bedroom, barely even noticing that the whole left wall had yet to be plastered and face planted into his pillow.

A tossed and turned for several long moments before giving an exasperated growl and flipping over to his right side. He'd taken it too fast, he didn't mean to do it…It just happened. A had acted on instinct to kiss her and now he may regret it, she'd reacted as if they had been on fire or as if Minato was going to come busting through the door.

And at the thought of the blonde haired detective he felt a pang of guilt enter his chest. "Bastard," he growled to himself and grabbed a pillow to press it to his face, "god damnit!" A roared and threw the pillow down next to him before standing and walking back into the living area. Everything was closed up so he turned on the lamps and started plastering the walls again, rubbing the material flat to cover the holes he'd put there.

Shaking his head he painted the already repaired right wall and back wall while the left one dried back in place. Guilt rubbed itself over him and he dropped the can of paint to sit on the floor and lean against the wall, his eyes closed and his body resting. He could still feel the softness of her lips and wondered why this feeling enveloped him, the coursing need to protect her.

"**You're the type of person that if even a single fraction of affection is given to you by another being you just fall to pieces."** And A felt his chest constrict as that voice and laugh echoed through his mind and he growled, the need to tear apart his patches and the already damaged furniture filling him.

Standing slowly he made his way to his bedroom after shutting off all the lights, his eyes adjusted to the darkness of the night which enveloped him. As he listened to the crickets chirp outside he felt the scar that ran over his heart to his shoulder prickle at the thought of that voice, covering his ears with his hands against the silence he growled.

S-s-s-S-s-s-S

A entered the coffee shop with bags under his eyes, his sleep had not been a good one and he approached the front with only one thing in mind. Drowsy and resisting the urge to yawn he withdrew two dollars and fifty cents to pay for his, "black coffee." And a pair of pale hands held out a cup to him and he looked up into the violet eyes of Kushina.

She smiled at him and he could tell that she had slept much better than he had. Taking the cup from her he gulped and then handed her the money with a quick, "thank you," before walking over to a table and sitting back. Kushina came over a few moments later and touched his shoulder, causing him to pause in his drinking to look at her.

"Are you okay? You look really tired." She whispered and he nodded slowly, eyes dropping shut and he seemed to have trouble reopening them. Kushina couldn't suppress her mothering instinct and smoothed his hair against his skull, causing him to nuzzle into her hand. She blushed but slowly ran the pad of her thumb over his eye lid to the soft sound of his breathing, removing her hand she went back to her work as A sat there at the table.

A made his way back to the station across the way after finishing half his coffee and perking back up, the stairs seeming endless as he made his way up to his floor. Walking to his desk he laid the cup down and then smashed his head down into the wooden surface, his brother looking shocked at his quiet arrival.

"Bro?" Bee almost shouted, causing several people to turn and look at him before they went back to their work. "Are you okay?" Bee said and poked his brother who didn't respond. He saw his brother's breathing become labored and his brow twitched as his head lie there on his desk. "Ah Hell," Bee growled, "You need a week off! Damnit, literally dragging your ass to work just to pass out. This isn't much of a track record you know!" Bee hissed loudly into his brother's ear.

The older man didn't stir in the least and Bee wasn't sure he could move him on his own so he just sat there and did his work as his brother slept. _Works himself to exhaustion, _Bee thought as he shuffled through a series of papers, _what a bastard. He better wake up so I can at least get him to my car!_ He shook his head and the day passed on, A finally awakening in the afternoon with the entire right side of his face red.

He cracked his neck to relieve the tension there and then looked at Bee, "what happened?" Bee felt like smacking him and punched his shoulder roughly, making A glare at him.

"What the fuck is your problem?" A roared and Bee glared back at him.

"You pass out in the middle of fucking work! You need a damn vacation bro! Literally passing out over your damn desk just to keep that track record going! What the Hell is wrong with you?" Bee roared, causing more than a few people to stare and A stood, slapping his palm to his younger brother's forehead.

He squeezed and Bee growled, "Mind your own business Bee. I'm fine," A stated and picked up his coffee to throw it into the trash can before turning to leave. He got out to the parking lot before he heard something coming up behind him and as he turned his head he felt a fist collide with his jaw.

Regaining his balance after almost face planting into the ground, he turned with blood dribbling from the corner of his mouth to see Bee, "what the fuck is wrong with you?" A roared and Bee moved to kick him, A grabbing his foot and swinging it away before grabbing his brother in a head lock.

Bee sent his leg up and his knee kicked A in his lower back, he did this a few more times before A released him and they flew away from each other. They both panted and A whipped the blood away from his mouth, looking at the back of his hand before looking back to Bee and growling. "You better watch yourself Bee," he whispered harshly and Bee's brow furrowed, his face twisting into a snarl.

"You need to take a breather! Figure out who the Hell you are before you ruin everybody else's lives!" Bee roared and A looked taken aback for a fraction of a second till his own face twisted into an angry snarl.

"It's none of your damn business Bee!" A yelled and Bee ran forward, his fist coming up to A's face but the older man caught it, raising his leg to smash his knee into Bee's jaw. Bee pulled back at the last second and kicked A in the stomach by hiking his leg up, pushing against his brother's abdomen and shoving him back to the ground. A rolled backwards and stood quickly, glaring at his brother as he charged, his head coming into Bee's stomach and he grabbed him around the waist.

It was a tug of war match over who could sent down to the ground, angry grunts and the skidding of feat over the pavement the only sound, a growl from either one puncturing the air. A finally gained the upper hand and threw Bee to the ground, tackling him and pinning him down by sitting on his abdomen and doing his best to grab his brother's fists but the younger brought his leg up from behind and nailed A in the back of the head.

The older man let go in a daze and Bee rolled them over, A's body sustaining scratches, bruises, and rough scrapes from the asphalt. Regaining his breath he barely had time to stand again before Bee was on top of him and trying to pin him down, but this wasn't affective either as A rolled and they wrestled on the ground, A grabbed the front of Bee's shirt and then bringing a fist up to smash it into his face.

Bee moved though, but the graze on his cheek was enough to make him hiss in pain and grab A by the collar, cloth shredding as he head butted A's face, a sharp _crack_ ringing through the air as blood gushed over his forehead from his brother's broken nose. A barely seemed to notice though, wincing as the warmth spread over the bottom of his face, his jacket and shirt shredding when Bee tugged.

They separated a moment later, their bodies battered and scraped in numerous places, clothes torn and ragged now. "Why do you think I'm ruining every bodies lived Bee?" A panted and felt blood run down to his eye, situating in the corner before dribbling back down his cheek, to his chin, and then splattering the ground.

"You keep going on about Madara; Madara this, Madara that. I'm fucking sick of it!" Bee roared, fists clenched at his side and A's eyes narrowed slightly on him. "Maybe if you let someone help you, Minato would be avenged!" A's eyes widened and he felt his teeth grit at Bee's words, the younger going on, "isn't that what you want?"

A took a raspy breath and his breathing became harsher when he felt blood dribble down his chin, "yes…" It was admitting defeat; he was admitting openly that he had failed to do anything to avenge the man's death. His whole body tensed and shook, the sweat from their fight pouring down his brow and the side of his face, the shadows of the building casting over them.

He heard the clacking of boots as Bee made his way over to him and held up a fist, the older man felt his own subconsciously rise and he pressed his bruised and cut knuckles against the younger mans. The shredded skin burned, peeling against Bee's and oozing blood mixing together and splattering the ground.

A drove home shortly after and Bee followed, the two of them sitting on the couch with a cold beer in either of their hands while bandages decorated the wounds they had inflicted. They sat there watching TV in nothing but their jeans with shredded shirts and jackets on the floor. "Feel better?" Bee asked and A chuckled, taking a swig from the bottle.

"Do you?" A said and Bee nodded, lying back on the couch as a new show came on…

S-s-s-S-s-s-S

This is a long…long chapter. Enjoy, R&R please!


	5. Chapter 5

So many stories to update, T_T somebody help me! I need sleep…

Chapter 5 – War and Peace

_Love is like war: easy to begin but hard to stop._

~H.L. Mencken

A rubbed the back of his head, dressed in a clean white v-neck sleeveless shirt with his signature leather jacket – he bought a new one – and a pair of faded denim jeans. His sunglasses were absent and bandages decorated his form, a patch on his left cheek bone and more around his neck. The most of them lie under his shirt and on his legs but he'd done a pretty good job in making that mostly not known.

A made his way to the front door of the coffee shop and stepped inside as if he were normal, rather unconcerned about what Kushina would have to say…Until that was she saw him. Making his way to the counter he got his usual order and sat down by a window to drink when he heard a shocked gasp behind him. He turned his head to see her, jaw dropped and eyes wide, "A!"

Some people turned their heads before returning back to their drinks and the detective scoffed slightly. "Uh…Kushina." He stated and she moved to sit next to him, her fingers tracking over his abdomen to stretch the shirt and see the strips of linen underneath. "Kushina," he hissed, looking around with darting eyes to see that although no one was looking he felt like someone was.

"How the hell did this happen?" She hissed, eyes tracing frantically over his wounds and making mental notes of all the winces he made.

"I got in a fight with my brother," he admitted as her delicate fingers traced over the patch on his cheek and he grumbled, feeling a certain heat rise. _Damnit…She makes me so damn nervous!_ A thought as he felt her right hand press against the ride side of his chest and her fingers trace the ridge of his cheekbone.

"You – You what?" Kushina whispered harshly as she stared at him and he gulped, grimacing slightly.

"Yeah…We had a bad argument," he grumbled and Kushina glared at him and made a face. "It was over personal stuff," he said and she shook her head, removing her hands to lay them in her lap.

"But look at you…you'd be a mummy if you had your shirt off," she whispered and closed her eyes, touching her forehead. "Did you sanitize your wounds properly?" Kushina murmured and the man before her nodded with a chuckle. "This is not funny A! Look at you!" She snapped and the detective rolled his eyes.

"I'm fine Kushina," he growled and put his arm around the back of her chair instinctively. She didn't seem to notice and even scooted into the warmth his side radiated. "Besides, I was going to hit the gym before I went back home. I'm on a week's leave because my bro and boss thought it would be a good idea. They say I've been running ragged lately."

"You looked ready to pass out yesterday, I don't blame them," she grumbled as she looked at him with a glare. "What has got you so riled up?" She whispered and he sighed, raising his right hand to rub his face, the left staying wrapped around her.

"It's this case I've been working on…It takes up a lot of time really." He murmured and she nodded, he brow furrowing slightly.

"So much time that you can't come over tonight?" She asked and A looked at her with a raised brow before chuckling and nodding.

"I think I can arrange that," he said and looked down at her with a smirk, her own lips curling into a smile as she reached up and pecked his lips. He stopped and looked a little taken aback and Kushina felt a blush rise as he moved forward and captured her mouth in a kiss, it lasted a few seconds and they inhaled through their noises, a light _smack_ filling the air as they parted.

"I'll see you at eight," she whispered with that blush still on her cheeks as she slid from the chair beside him and walked away. His eyes watched her swaying red hair and he swallowed before standing and grabbing his coffee, making his way out.

The air outside was cooling, autumn just around the corner and A took a deep breath before making his way to his truck. Closing the door behind himself he placed the cup in the holder and released a breath through his teeth before starting the engine and taking off. The road sped below the wheels of his truck for a good fifteen minutes before he parked and jumped out.

A walked through the rooms and made his way to the changing room, changing out to a tight black shirt and shorts, dirtied cleats on his feet. Moving to the weight room he lie down on a bench and lifted a dumb bell for a good solid hour in each hand, feeling his muscles contract and clench as he worked a light sweat. It had been a while since he'd been in the gym so he jogged on a treadmill and then lied down on the bench press for awhile, the sweat dribbling down his forehead and he could feel his shirt grow wet and stick to his skin.

"I thought you were taking a week off?" Came a voice to his right and he didn't once stop but his eyes darted to see the shaded gaze of his brother. Bee had a towel around his shoulders and a water bottle in his hand, sweat staining him in some places. "And here you are at the gym," Bee said shaking his head, making his brother slowly put the weight up and move over to the leg press.

He put the weights on and his brother moved with him, glaring at him for ignoring him. "You know bro, you should be taking it easy," Bee stated as he took a sip from his water bottle. "You got scraped up pretty bad yesterday."

A stopped to glare at his brother and Bee gulped. "You don't look much better!" The older man growled and he knew that Bee was in fact worse off than he was but he still could feel the blood start to seep below his bandages.

"Yeah but I'm taking it slow…You're just going crazy today." Bee stated as he watched his brother press against the weights currently straining his legs and the younger shook his head. "You should take a break," he whispered and A shook his head. Bee knew there was something wrong with him…He was more strained than usual. A's face seemed to be contorted, in an expression between anger and somewhat shock…

"Put more on there," A growled and Bee's brow furrowed on him but he slowly added two more, his brother's legs slowly bulging against the force. It took some time but Bee watched as he slowly reached his limit, his face turning into a grimace as he pushed and Bee could see more than just sweat spots making themselves know.

He reached up and stopped it, his brother slowly standing and he could see his legs shake. Reaching for him he gripped his shoulder and A leaned against the machine as he stood there and waited to regain his breathing. "I'm going home," he rasped and walked away, his brother watching him go as he virtually limped out the door.

S-s-s-S-s-s-S

Kushina sat in her small office at the back of her shop and went through a series of files, coming across a specific one she stopped. _That's right…I meant to give this back!_ She panicked and sighed loudly, looking up quickly when the door was opened to reveal Amaya. "Amaya? What is it?" Kushina asked and the young woman looked absolutely bubbly.

"Don't think I didn't see you and him at that booth! You two totally kissed and I bet something happened the other night didn't it!" Amaya said with a waggle of brows, "Now spill it! Every detail!"

Kushina looked taken aback, a sweat drop rolling down the side of her face before she snapped, the folder slapping down as she stood up. "What do you mean spill it? Nothing happened!" She almost shrieked but there was a blush painting her cheeks and Amaya had a grin on to rival the Devils.

"Yeah right!" Amaya cried, "So what did you do? Kiss, make out," she stopped and she blushed also with her grin still in place, "or did you cut right to **the chase**?" And Kushina's eyes grew wide at the prospect of what her employee was suggesting.

"No!" She practically screamed and Amaya just waggled her brows.

"Don't think you can get out of this Kushina! Otherwise I'll be forced to tell everybody you two did the deed and I'll have to use my imagination to give them the juicy details!" And when Amaya said this Kushina looked mortified…Amaya was the biggest pervert she knew. The older woman didn't even want to know the horrors she would tell them that she had partaken in with A…She shivered at the thought.

"No! We just kissed that was it!" Kushina said, as she waved her hands in front of her.

"Frenchy style?" Amaya persisted and Kushina's blush made her look like a tomato.

"Nothing like that! It was just a simple little kiss!" But Amaya seemed to see right through her bluff and saddled up next to her.

"So how was it?"

"Huh?" Kushina said, looking downright comical at this point.

"How was he, he looks like he'd be a good kisser!"

"Uh well," Kushina started and then she licked her lips and shook her head. No sense holding out on her at this point. "Gods Amaya the man should come with a warning! And I could tell he was holding back! Of course…I kinda pulled away before we could do…ehm," she felt like her face was about to be set on fire, "the 'frenchy style'."

Amaya gave a squeal of delight and twirled around, "I knew it, I knew it, and I knew it!" She jumped up and down in a fit of girly joy and a large sweat drop rolled down Kushina's head. The older woman face palmed and sighed loudly, Amaya tugging her hand down to look at her. "Are you going to see him tonight?" And Kushina finally nodded which made Amaya grin and hold up her hands.

"Wait here!" Amaya disappeared and Kushina stood there for a good several seconds before Amaya, Rina, and Haruka entered. Rina was Amaya's twin sister but her hair was brown unlike her sister's and Haruka was a bit shorter than the other two and was in no way related. They were the best of friends though; Haruka shorter and a bit thinner than the other two but her chest was quite large. Haruka's hair was red with brown eyes and a fair face.

Describing Amaya was simple; her hair was an amber color with green eyes and dark skin. She had a bust and so did her older sister. Rina was like her sister but they were total opposites when it came to intercourse or sex because Rina was totally innocent and would blush as deeply as a ten year old at the thought of anything remotely 'kinky'.

"You might want to take this." Amaya said and held out a magazine titled, "Love and Sex," and Kushian stopped dead. Her whole face dropped and her eyes grew to the size of dinner plates at the sight of what was handed to her.

"What the fuck is this?" Kushina roared – probably loud enough for the whole café to hear – and the other three girls exchanged glances. Rina was blushing but not as bad as Kushina expected she would, instead she nodded with the other two.

"Help I mean…He looked like he's been doing it recently…A body like that," Haruka said with a whistle and Amaya looked ready to give a girly squeal again.

Kushina's eyebrow twitched and she gulped loudly when Rina started talking – still with a blush in place – "you know you haven't dated in awhile and even though you may not be in the mood…He might. It's just a possibility."

"This is our third date! We are not going to do it on the third date, what the Hell is wrong with you three!" And Amaya rolled her eyes.

"Oh please, lots of people do it on their second or even first date! It's not impossible and stuff changes over the years Kushina…Like positions and…ya know, how the guy drops signs." Amaya waggled her brows and Kushina slammed her head down on her desk.

"We are not doing it and that is final!" She screamed and shoveled papers and things on her desk into her book bag before zipping it up and stomping to the door. "We will never speak of his again," she hissed dangerously as she left to prepare for her date.

Amaya, Haruka, and Rina stopped to look at each other, "but she took the magazine," they said in unison before shaking their heads and making their way out.

**7:00 P.M. …**

Kushina was done preparing dinner but left it in the oven on a low heat to keep it warm and shuffled out to the living room, dressed in a black dress that went down to her knees. She wore no shoes and picked up her book bag from work to go through it and found the magazine, a blush quickly painting itself across her features.

_I am so not going to read this! I'm not…Am I?_ She stopped and bit her lower lip_,_ _but…I guess it wouldn't hurt…_ Kushina slowly peeled the cover over and read through it while curling her lips. A questionnaire was at the beginning determining what 'type' of boyfriend you had and Kushina slowly answered her way through it.

Finally coming to the part where it talked about them she gulped when she read the paragraph that went with it: **The Fierce and Wild Type: Your boyfriend likes it fast and rough, but when he gets horny watch out! He sometimes likes it kinky and can enjoy a little pain during intercourse; these guys tend to be body builders and go through women like crazy. If you want to keep this guy than keep him guessing and even play hard to get!**

Kushina's whole face fell flat and she slowly closed the magazine, pushing it below one of the mats on her table and sat there twiddling her thumbs for a good half an hour before standing and thought to herself, biting her thumb nail. _Well he does have a nice build and there is no doubt in my mind that he must be at least well endowed! What?_ Kushina shook her head and heard a knock at the door, standing to make her way over to answer it, clicking the locks out of place and opening it to the sight of A.

He looked a little worse for wear and Kushina stopped when she saw him, "A?" He nodded to her and grunted.

"Sorry, I just got here from the gym," he murmured and she looked up at his body. He must have showered but she could tell that he seemed to be almost in pain. Kushina let him come in and he sat down at the table, trying to hide his grimace but she saw it. Placing the food on the wooden surface she served him and watched like a hawk through dinner as occasionally his fist would clench in pain.

"Go sit on the couch," she said and stood once he was done, taking the dishes and A looked up at her in shock.

"No wait I-"

"Just do it A," her voice carried to him and her face held no room for argument so he stood and made his way to the couch, sitting down finally and sweat rolling down his face as he watched her move everything back to the kitchen before moving into the main hall.

He had no idea what she was doing but she finally came back with a container and motioned to him, "take off your shirt." Kushina commanded and he looked at her in shock.

"What?"

"Take off your shirt," she repeated and he swallowed before removing his jacket and then slowly tugging his shirt back over his head. Kushina watched as his bandage covered muscles made themselves known, rippling under the linens that were stained in some places with leaking blood.

A winced as he looked up at her, his shirt also stained with crimson in some places on the back from where he'd been leaning on the back of things. Kushina shook her head and took out a pair of scissors, motioning for him to scoot forward so she could sit beside him. Taking her time she sat beside him, her hands rising with the sharp object to cut the bandages away.

_Snip, snip, snip, _and some of the blood-stained linens fell into her hands, her arms reaching around him to pull the cloth away. His breath hitched as her fingers made their way over his flesh, the pain subsiding under her warm digits. Kushina watched him, sweat rolling down his face and body shaking slightly under her palms.

She liked the feel of his muscles against her skin and she had to stop herself from giving a shudder as she removed more bandages down his abdomen. Kushina's fingers brushed over the bud on his chest and he gasped, gulping and she gave a quick apology. He shook his head to excuse it and she made a note not to touch the other, the other one tensing from when she had touched it.

More of the linens were removed, Kushina's digits touching his hard abs and his rough skin made her take a deep breath as she pulled her arms around him to remove the last few bandages. Her eyes surveyed the damage and she felt her orbs widen and her brow furrow when she saw the scrapes and bruises that littered his form. There was even a bruise in the shape of a circle on his back, as if someone had rammed their knee there.

Blood oozed in certain places and in others it was caked over and dried. Finger mark like bruises were over his collar bone and one that was from a fist was in the middle of his abs. "Why did this happen?" She whispered and pressed her lips instinctively to his shoulder, closing her eyes and sighing gently, his face relaxing.

"Some personal stuff between me and my bro," he whispered and Kushina shook her head, laying down the scissors and grabbing the antiseptic from the box. She doused a rag in the liquid before pressing it over his wounds, a loud hiss making its way from his mouth as he arched away from her. "Damn that burns!" He growled and Kushina blew a cool breath over the place she had just whipped and he took deep breaths through his nose.

She rubbed more, over his whole back gently, and dabbed away at his lower abdomen. Kushina rubbed his back over, the muscles burning under her hand and she knew he was in pain by the winces and the occasional hiss he would let out. When she made it to his lower back she pressed as lightly as possible over his blistered bruise which made him arch away suddenly and give a low pained cry.

His teeth were clenched and he breathed through them as Kushina sat behind them and he growled, "press it there and hold it." She looked uncertain but he gave another low rumble and she pressed it there, holding it and he grabbed the edge of the couch, the cloth rippling under his hands.

Kushina pulled her hand away after a few seconds before murmuring, "I have to do your chest now," and her mouth ran dry with those words. He turned to look at her with wide eyes before gulping and nodding. A turned to her, but she shook her head and moved to sit down in front of him – it wasn't good for him to turn like that – and started pressing the cloth over his lower abdomen.

His abs moved under her hand as he breathed, the muscles tensing slightly as she dabbed over them. A took a deep breath, closing his eyes and she could see the tendons in his neck strain as she made her way up, dabbing over his upper chest, lingering over his nipples before stopping at the cut on his collar bone.

She grabbed the new bandages and realized that she was blushing, and coughed to relieve some of the tension. Taking out the linen she brought her hands up and started at his abs, putting her arms around him and put her cheek to his chest. Kushina grumbled when she realized that she couldn't fit her arms around him and when she'd removed them she hadn't need to totally put her arms around him but now she did.

His chest rumbled against her cheek as he looked down at her and smirked, "I think I can handle that." She blushed when she felt him take the roll from her and start running it around his form, the white cloth pressing slightly into his skin and hiding it from her in a white gauze as he wrapped his lower abdomen. When he was finished he stopped, "think I need some help with this though."

"Of course," she whispered and tied the knot for him, her smaller fingers doing a job that would have normally taken him five minutes. His skin was still warm through those bandages and she found the feel of his rougher skin something that she missed…She liked the feel of him

Blushing at that thought she shook her head and watched as A wrapped his upper abdomen, over his chest and all the way below his arms before overlapping his shoulder to get the gash on his collar bone too. Kushina tied the knot again and gulped as he watched her, his eyes seeming to stare right through her.

"All better," Kushina laughed nervously and noted that the wounds on his arms were wrapped and seemed alright so she just looked up at his face. He leaned forward and she couldn't stop her eyes from falling shut at the feel of his warm and rough lips pressing against hers.

Kushina murmured against his lips as he pulled her up and into his lap, her thighs resting on either side of his. Her right hand tangled into his hair, while the left grabbed his shoulder, and their mouths mingled into a passionate kiss. His hands rested on her hips as she felt his tongue come out to rub against hers and she inhaled sharply through her nose when she relented and opened her mouth to him.

A slowly entered his mouth, but a heat was rising to cloud his mind as he rubbed his tongue against hers and she hummed against him, his fingers massaging the skin of her hips. Kushina gasped and mingled her tongue with his, feeling that burning on her cheeks again as she groaned, finding the need to when their chests pressed together.

The thin bandages and her dress the only thing that separated their skin as his hands rose to her mid abdomen and they pulled back. They both panted, staring into the eyes of the other her hands cupped his face. "Kushina," he hissed, brow furrowed and eyes closed, pressing his lips lightly to hers and she did the same, running her lips over his.

He was struggling with this, torn between the stirring in his groin and the nagging in his heart. His arms wrapped around her mid drift and held her to him, his pants becoming a little tighter. A didn't want her to know what was going on in his nether regions but he did want to keep kissing her, the light smacking noises of her apartment growing fainter and with longer spaces in between as their mouths met longer.

Kushina was a bit surprised when she bit his lower lip, gauging his reaction which was a low growl and a sharp nip to her lips, making her gasp and lick his tongue. He kept growling and Kushina moved to completely sit down on his lap, her eyes growing wide at what she felt against her thigh…something very, **very** large. She pulled back suddenly with a gasp and A looked at her with wide eyes also, gulping under the shock in her eyes.

"I'm sorry," he whispered and didn't know where it had come from.

"No, no," Kushina whispered and stood, "that was my fault. I…I'm sorry," she said and he stood also, her body almost against his. She backed off and turned with her hand over her mouth and eyes closed; him turning away also to grab his shirt and pull it back on. His knee hit the table and she heard him give a grunt and she turned back to him to see that he was eyeing something there.

She looked down and her eyes grew huge at what she saw…The magazine! Inwardly she wished he wouldn't pick it up and prayed to any and all gods who were listening that he would just turn away and ignore it. Biting her lower lip she saw him reach down and she felt to the need to cry when he tugged it out from underneath the mat.

A picked it up with a raised brow before she saw his eyes grow slightly wide before he bit his lip and started laughing, flopping back on the couch and chuckling to himself. "That isn't mine!" Kushina screeched, making A look up at her as she pointed to it, her face as red as a tomato, "its Amaya's!"

He looked back down and turned it so she could see the front cover, "no kidding," he replied, pointing to a name in sharpie at the top of the front page: **property of Amaya**. Kushina's jaw dropped at the sight and a sweat drop rolled down her head as she stood there, still pointing at it.

"Only she is shameless enough to put her name on something like that," Kushina grumbled and A laughed as he turned the page, lying down on the couch to go into hysterics. "What are you looking at?" She asked, the corner of her mouth twitching as she watched him go almost teary eyed with laughter, his cheeks changing color as he ran out of breath.

"Come here and I'll show you," he chuckled and Kushina sat down next to him and face palmed when he pointed to a specific box. "That…That's just…" he laughed again and finally seemed to calm down, throwing an arm around her. She fell into the heat of his side as he flipped through it and sniggered at half the things that Amaya had written in herself, 'notes' as it were.

His laugh was rather loud, but genuine and she found it rather nice almost. A's smile showed his sharp canines which would frighten most but Kushina thought they rather complimented the sharp lines of his angular face. She laid her head against the side his chest and inhaled his scent through a sign, the musky smell filling her nose she noted that he smelled rather nice…In his own way.

When he flipped to the back there was a note written there that said: **Dear Kushina, I hope you enjoyed this little book and try at least several of these positions with your hunky boyfriend! And I expect all the details in the morning!**

Kushina blushed scarlet and she saw from the corner of her eyes the twitching corner of A's mouth as she lowered her eyes to see, **P.S. We also want to know how big he is! Signed, Amaya, Haruka, and Rina!**

Kushina's jaw dropped and she pressed her face into A's chest and mumbled, "Kill me!" The detective in question just shook his head, eyes narrowed and mouth twitching.

"That girl…Is…"he seemed to be at a loss for words and just chuckled as Kushina shook her head and grumbled into his shirt. He chuckled, rubbing her back with his hand before kissing the top of her head and she looked up at him before turning to look down at the white of his shirt. "You alright?" He asked and she nodded but he let out a sigh.

"You need some sleep," he whispered, "it's late." She nodded and they slowly separated, him throwing the magazine back down on the table before making his way to the door. Kushina followed behind him and stood in the door way, looking at the ground as he stood there.

"I'm sorry about…Earlier," he whispered and Kushina shook her head.

"I went along with it…I-"she stopped when he pinned her to the door frame and she looked up at him with wide eyes, her cheeks a crimson shade. His left arm was over her head and he leaned over her body, her hands coming up to tangle into the white shirt on his chest. She closed her eyes as he leaned forward and felt warm breath come over her features as his rough lips touched her cheek.

Kushina turned her head against the side of his face as he kissed her cheek, his breath caressing the flesh of her ear as he pulled back and she looked up at him. "Thanks…For everything," he whispered as her fingers slowly let go of his shirt and he turned, walking out of the breeze way. She gulped and turned, walking back inside and letting out a deep breath as she locked up for the night.

S-s-s-S-s-s-S

A lay in bed and stared at the ceiling, only in his boxers and closed his eyes against the gloom. Arousal coursed through him whenever he thought about that time in her house but something else, something clenched in his chest and it was a combination of guilt and some other feeling he couldn't identify. He touched his face and sighed deeply, mouth moving as he waited for sleep to fill him.

A wanted nothing more than to feel her beside him, her lithe form pressing against his hardened one so he could wrap his arms around her and know that she was safe. It was so important to feel her close and the nagging of Madara's voice was like an icy storm that raged through his mind and froze him.

S-s-s-S-s-s-S

Kushina lay away and closed her eyes, wrapping her arms around herself to fight the cold. She had piled on at least two blankets but with winter around the corner it was starting to get even colder…and she remembered the man who had left her home. His body was like a furnace and she visualized him wrapping his arms around her but memories of the night came over her.

She gulped and closed her eyes, squeezing them shut against the dark as she noticed that she hadn't felt as safe in her life as she had when she was in his arms…Not even with. Kushina's eyes shot open and she sat up in bed, folding her arms around herself and feeling tears streak from her eyes.

_No! No it's not possible…I'm_- Kushina shook her head and then pressed her face back into her pillow in an agonized cry. "No!" She growled and gripped the cloth under her fingers, panting, "no…no, no!" Kushina pulled the covers around herself but she couldn't deny it…After seeing the softer side of this man…Seeing through him…She was starting to fall in love with him…

S-s-s-S-s-s-S

This was long…longer than the last one I think. I'm going to update "One Stubborn Little –"after this so no need to fear! R&R please!


	6. Chapter 6

Alright…Here goes chapter six! :D Shorter than I wanted it. .

Chapter 6 – Contempt

_The art of living is more like wrestling than dancing._

~Marcus Aurelius

A entered the café wearing a black v-neck shirt, dark grey jeans, and his usual leather jacket. His boots clacked across the floor as he made his way to a certain red-haired woman, who was currently serving ice tea to a man in a booth. A walked up behind her and gave a slight cough – making sure to stay out of range of the tea – causing Kushina to turn to him suddenly.

She looked up at him with almost fear and his gaze widened slightly with the look that she gave him and he reached for her. Kushina flinched and he looked taken aback, his hand slowly retracting to go back into his pocket, "you alright?" He asked and she shook her head.

"We need to talk," she whispered and he could see the bags under her violet eyes.

They walked into the back, the office dark and cold. He stepped into the dark, feet stumbling slightly, and Kushina bumped him. "You alright," he whispered and as his eyes adjusted he saw her nod and he felt her bump his foot. A grabbed her around the waist and she gasped, retching herself away from him and he stood there rather stunned.

He flipped on the light to see her back against her desk and her eyes bulging as she stared at him, and he stood there awkwardly while she turned away and shook. "Kushina," he murmured and made his way over to her, his hands coming up to her shoulders but she tugged away from him.

"A…I don't think I can see you anymore." She whispered and he looked taken aback, his eyes growing wide as he gazed at her back.

"Kushina…What's wrong with you?" He hissed and made his way over to her, but she just moved away again and he stood there. His chest constricted and it felt like something had just hit him, his breath stolen from his lungs and he was left standing there. A felt like a fool, felt like he'd been dragged along like some sort of dog and then released when he'd been beaten.

He gulped and felt the tendons in his neck stretch and tense, his body becoming rigid as he looked around with darting eyes in a rather helpless manner. A breathed deep threw his nostrils but it still wasn't enough, he needed…To get away. Anger was not an emotion that came through him because he couldn't feel anything, his nerves dulled to the extreme as he stumbled for the door.

The rough texture of the wood under his fingers was all he felt as he jerked the door open and slammed it behind him, making his way out into the day. He didn't feel the sun, it was rather cold to him as he made his way to his truck and drove home.

There was a blur when everything happened as he made his way into his apartment and fell onto the ground. A apparently had enough mind to turn and lock the door but right now it was all instinct, it was just the habits he had for everyday kicking in.

He lie on the floor for a good several long moments, turning over with his dark eyes staring at the wall, and the plastered over craters traced with his gaze. A closed his eyes and laid his arms over his orbs to shield the light from them, somehow his legs making him stand. He made his way over to the window and closed it, the blinds coming down into place with a shudder, before flopping down on the floor again.

Steady breaths came from him as he reached into his pocket with shaky fingers and gripped a small carton of cigarettes and with a trembling hand put it into his mouth. He grabbed his lighter and watched the flame dance before his eyes before closing it and letting the smoke fill his lungs with a sigh.

Releasing the smoke into the air he smoked from it for a moment more till it was only half finished before lifting his hands and stubbing it out on the sealing cut from his pocket knife. A hissed and felt the burn scorch there, his hand twitching from the pain as he removed it from his palm and stared at the singe there.

He dropped his stubbed out cigarette on the ground next to him and traced the cut over his palm. A remembered the feel of her thin and soft fingers rubbing over the cut and slowly sealing it with white linens and he felt his teeth clench and the muscles in his neck tense at the memory. His heavy lids drooped and they silently shut for several long hours…

There was a _rap_, _rap_, _rap_, at the door and he shuddered loudly when he heard a voice. "Bro, Bro…Open up!" Came a voice from the other side of the door and A closed his eyes. Something slid down his cheek and he gulped for a moment before standing, not bothering to rub his eyes as he made his way to the door and opened it up. His brother took one glance at him before slowly pulling off his glasses, "bro…Are you…Bro." Bee didn't even finish as he stared at his brother, brow furrowed and eyes slightly widened.

"Let's go to a club," A growled and stepped out of the door way. Bee turned as he brushed past him to look at his brother's back.

"Bro! You…You." He was at a loss for words as his brother almost ran out to his truck and slammed the door as he entered it, starting the engine and Bee ran forward to jump into the passenger side. He watched his brother for several moments as he drew out a cigarette and started smoking it, taking it down in less than a minute and never once coughing on the smoke as he threw it out the window.

The streets streaked by below them and finally they reached a dance club, the sun setting below the horizon, and Bee jumped out with his brother to watch him stalk inside and slam the door open. The dancers were against each other on the floor and drinkers and bikers at the bar. A walked around the room and Bee was quick to follow, it wasn't easy to lose a man like his brother but he had a hard time keeping up with him.

Bee was torn between concern and downright fear for his brother who was walking around the dance floor like he meant business. Literally, he'd only seen him like this once before and that was it, but this was a whole new extreme. A made his way over to a cute blonde who was dancing by herself, his hulking form over hers and Bee could only watch.

_What the fuck?_ He thought as he watched his brother and wondered what had happened to Kushina, one second he was content…Bee had never see him so content but now…Now it was like he'd never met Kushina. No, not like he'd never met her, more like he'd lost her.

Something clicked inside him at the thought and it occurred to him that his brother may be harboring feelings for her. To tell the truth Bee had thought that maybe, just maybe, if even for a little while his brother was settling down on one woman but A was pushing it.

Bee turned and went back to the truck, suddenly not feeling well and decided to wait for his brother. He didn't smoke but right now he made an exception, pulling a pack from the arm rest he found the lighter and lit it to take a deep breath and let the curling clouds fill his chest. He coughed – he hadn't done this since High School when he decided he didn't like it – but he couldn't deny the calming effects.

_What happened?_ Bee thought as he took a long whiff and watched the door of the club with a furrowed brow. Over the last few days he had never seen his brother be more neutral or even 'happy' – as far as happy went for him – but now he was going back to his old ways. He thought to find Kushina and ask but he didn't rubbing his chin as he threw the cigarette out the door and watched the door.

_And A is still injured;_ Bee thought as he bit his lower lip and closed his eyes. He wondered that if A got into a fight…Would he be able to protect himself. His eyes became half lidded and he nearly face palmed, did he really just ask that? A could be on the brink of death and still not be willing to go down without a fight…

S-s-s-S-s-s-S

A felt the little blonde grind her read against his crotch and his breath hitched, eyes half lidded and teeth slightly bared as she turned to grind her hips to his. The music filled his ears but it was deafened, he could barely hear anything and the girl grabbed onto his shoulders. She pushed herself up his body and he hissed, throwing his head back and wrapping his arms around her to grab her rear as she kissed him.

Her legs locked around his waist as she licked and kissed down his neck and he growled, her tongue finding tendons in his neck that made him groan slightly as she ran her hands down the front of his shirt. She said something about his muscles, sounded like a compliment but he was too far gone to know. All he felt was the nice little sparks as she pinched his nipples and gave another grind but he wasn't getting as much out of this as he wanted.

She whispered something about leaving and he followed her as she suddenly released him and grabbed his hand, leading him out of the crowd and for the door. They took a cab outside and he told the man his address before they took off, her thighs coming to rest on either side of his hips. She started kissing him, running the flat of her palms down the top of his chest as she made her way down and he could hear some threads break as she tugged at it.

The cab came to a red light and A just sat there as she seemed to be tearing his shirt and kissing his face, and he wished she wouldn't do that. It wasn't that she wasn't pleasurable or knew what she was doing but for some reason he wanted her to leave his lips alone, he didn't want to be kissed. She didn't know though, he didn't voice what he wanted so she kept kissing him but every time she did he felt the warmth of another and that made a streak of pain sear through his chest.

The girl stopped and licked her lips; leaning back to survey his body and raised his shirt to look at the muscles underneath. He'd removed most of the bandages but some still remained and he was dimly aware that she was chuckling and asked if he got in a fight. He thought it would be obvious but maybe it wasn't because she lifted his shirt up all the way as she ground her rear against his thighs.

Her teeth and tongue played over his chest and he felt something in his nether regions twitch but still he didn't let his mind react. He just sat there and let her play with him as she licked and touched his skin, her teeth playing with the sensitive area left by one of Bee's punches and he let his head fall back against the seat.

The pleasure was dull as she sucked his nipples and he grunted his pleasure but it was on deaf ears for him, and he wanted to escape the numbness, the pain. The cab moved again for a good few moments and it was when the girl reached his pants he wanted it to stop…No, he needed it to stop.

The cabby stopped the car when he suddenly sat up and told him to, shoving the girl from his lap and into the seat next to him. She wasn't hurt but she pouted and yelled a few profanities as he got out and pulled his shirt down.

The night was somewhere between beginning and middle, the moon a quarter in the sky and he walked down the side walk with his hands in his pockets. He stopped and tried to remember where he was at, his eyes focusing finally as he heard a clap from over head. A turned his head to the sky and laughed at the irony that pelted his face and ran down the lines and sharp edges.

Taking off his jacket he loped it over his shoulder and finally took in where he was at and he realized that he was only a few blocks from Kushina's apartment. Something in his stopped and his chest constricted when he gulped and his breath became short and slow. A turned and thought to go back, but one day in his life he knew he would have to pass by that place again and why not be today?

The day she dumped him…And he didn't know why that bothered him. As the rain fell over his broad shoulders and soaked his clothes he felt the need to question what made him so angry, what made that sick feeling come over him every time he thought of her. This undeniable need to get away and it slowly coursed through him and over his chest.

A had been doing this at first to protect her, to save her from Madara and now it was over. Madara was the whole point of this, he was the whole danger but he could still watch her right? He could protect her from him, this whole dating thing was just to get closer and make the surveillance easier…Why did it bother him? A's half lidded eyes turned to the sky as he watched the droplets come down from the sky and run down his form.

He shuddered when it occurred to him that he may have developed…Feelings for her. A gulped and felt droplets come from his eyes as he turned to look at the side walk before him and thunder clapped above. It shook him from his stupor and he actually sobbed a little, hiccupped and then he smashed his fist into the building beside him. He didn't worry about waking the people who lived there…they would just think it was the storm.

A growled and stopped the tears, his body shaking when his senses came back to him and the cold seared over his skin. A car roared down the road as he was pulling his jacket back on, the lights highlighting the drops as they pelted the pavement and it slowed when it came to his side. He moved slightly as it came to a complete stop beside him and he didn't have time to move before two loud and sharp _bangs_ rang out into the night.

A's body smashed into the pavement as he felt blood gush from his mouth and dimly he heard the screech of wheels on wet cement. He gurgled on the blood that came from his mouth, his body numbing quickly against the pain as it seared through his right shoulder and the right side of his abdomen. A gasped and his eyes squeezed shut as he fought to stand, feet splashing in the rain as he grabbed onto the sides of buildings and crawled in between…

S-s-s-S-s-s-S

Kushina couldn't have believed her eyes as she sat on her couch and Naruto tried to comfort her. She'd been driving home and as she had come to a red light to turn to her right and see a sight that horrified her beyond belief. A blonde haired woman was in a cab and playing herself over A, the man sitting there and taking it as if it happened every day.

Kushina had booked it home and felt the tears coming, sobs wracking her as she opened her door and thunder clapped over head. Naruto had heard and turned off the TV, coming over to help his mother to the couch as she went into conniptions. She couldn't even explain what was wrong to him as he held her and her hands gripped her head, gripping her red locks.

Kushina calmed after many moments, coughing and sniffling loudly as Naruto rubbed her back. "Mom, mom, what's wrong!" He asked and she slowly leaned back, shaking her head and rubbing the bottom of her nose with the back of her hand.

"It's okay Naruto," she whispered, "I'm fine." Naruto gave her a look and Kushina just shuddered.

"I saw him Naruto…Thought I'd got over him but…I saw him with someone else and I – I just," she closed her eyes and hiccupped. He hugged her and she coughed, trying desperately to cling onto what little of her wasn't shredded by it. Kushina felt somewhere in the back of her mind that this was her fault, she let him go and it was all her fault that he was gone but a majority of her mind couldn't believe he would do that. Had he been cheating while they dated?

"Mom…I thought you said you dumped him?" Naruto whispered and although he'd been relieved to see that his mother was dumping that weird ass hole he was pained by her tears. She was breaking down before his eyes and there was nothing he could do. "Mom?" Naruto said and Kushina just gave another little sob before there was a light pounding at the door.

Naruto stopped and they both looked up, but Naruto stood and made his way to the door while Kushina held herself and rocked. She heard the locks click and the door give a little chime as the bells on the handle banged against it and there was a pause before she heard Naruto give a cry, "MOM, MOM, COME QUICK! MOM!" And Kushina shot up, running to the door and what she saw made her eyes grow wide and her heart stop in her chest.

A was towering in the door frame, his chest heaving and two bullet holes in the upper ride side of his body, one in his shoulder and the other closer to his heart. His eyes were shadowed and long red crimson lines stained down the front of his shirt all the way to his pants, over the top of them too. A's body was held up by a single hand and she saw the glint of his fading eyes as he upturned his head to look at her, "Kushi-" her name died on his lips as blood poured forth from his mouth.


	7. Chapter 7

Here we go…Man this thing is long…

Chapter 7 – Old Wounds

_All war is deception._

~Sun Tzu

Naruto stood in front of him, shivering in fear but staggered forward to catch the large man, almost crippled under his weight. The blood stained him now too and Kushina ran forward and put herself under A's other arm, helping him into her bedroom with the help of her son who staggered into the door.

They managed to get him mostly on the bed with one of his legs flung over the side but Kushina just stared at his face, panting and cold sweat running down it. She touched over his forehead and gasped at the warmth, "Naruto…Hot rags, bandages, uh…uh, antiseptic and tweezers." Her son stood there for a moment and stared at A before Kushina snapped, "Naruto! Go now!"

He ran from the room, almost tripping on his own feet and slamming the front door, the lock clicking in place under his shaky fingers. Kushina's tears were forgotten as she drew the covers up over A – heedless if he was sopping wet – and tore his shirt down the middle. Kushina saw his muscles spasm as pain seared through him and his eyes rolled back in his head as his breathing became erratic.

"A, A, Naruto!" Kushina got on the bed and held his face, his body starting to convulse as her son came back, "A…Listen to me. Listen to me," she cooed, "you're going to be alright. Calm down, calm down," and his body gave a jerk that upset her balance but she held onto him as the shocks slowly died down. "Damnit," she growled as she held A's head and kissed his forehead, "Naruto!"

Her son appeared and he whispered as he sat the things down next to her on the bedside table, "M – Mom...Don't you think we should call the hospital?" Kushina shook her head and touched the rags over A's forehead.

"No time, honey, I need you to hold him down while I get these out." Kushina said and Naruto got onto the bed, holding A's abdomen as she instructed. "Okay," she whispered and got the tweezers, rubbing them down with antiseptic before looking at the holes. "These don't look too deep…Okay on the count of three," she hissed and Naruto nodded as Kushina closed her eyes and nodded.

"One, two," she took a shaky breath, "three," and she pushed them into A's shoulder. His body jerked and she heard him cry out in pain as suddenly his eyes opened, his hand coming up to grip her arm in a bruising grip. Kushina fought the pain and felt around for the bullet, the tweezers clasping around something she slowly pulled it out to another yell from A. Thunder clapped outside to block the sound and Kushina was silently thankful for the storm.

She threw the bullet onto the bedside table and grabbed a bit of soaked gauze and pressed it to his wound, wrapping it to his shoulder quickly. The bullet had never gone through thankfully and she just had to wrap that one side but now came for the one on his chest.

Looking around she noted that this one wasn't as deep and apparently his lungs were alright and she took a deep breath. This was going to be tricky…One wrong move and the bullet could puncture his lung.

Kushina tried to steady herself as A's grip lessened and the pain dulled as she put her hand on top of his, making him look at her and gulp. His eyes were glazed over with pain so she raised her hand and pet the side of his face as tears streamed down his cheeks and she knew he was in serious pain.

Kushina didn't attempt the tweezers but went into the bathroom and washed her hands, "Naruto keep holding him down!" She yelled and her son still sat there on the bed and watched as she re-entered after drying her hands.

Dimly aware that her hands were freezing she touched them to A's chest and noted how his breath hitched when she did, she knew he'd survived bullet wounds before. She'd seen them when she had helped him after his fight but hadn't said anything…But none ever had been this close to his heart or vital organs.

She pressed her digits into the wound and A cried out because no matter how small her fingers were this had to hurt. Taking another shuddering breath she pushed more and A grabbed her arm again, and she could have swore she heard her bone cracking.

Ignoring her own pain she focused on the bullet and slowly as she went down she felt something cool brush against her fingers. Gulping slightly Kushina grabbed it and was careful to gradually pull it out.

A arched against the pain and roared, his body burning with the pain and his grip literally breaking her arm as she retched the bullet free. Naruto tried his best to hold him down but A was a huge man and even though Naruto worked out there was no way he could hold him down on his own.

Kushina grabbed more gauze and pressed it to his chest, the whole side of her face crashing onto his body next to her hand which pushed against his wound. He slowly unwound as the pain died down and he lie there panting loudly, every now and again his breath hitching. Naruto lay across A's legs breathing deeply as well from the sudden lack of energy, his eyes closing slowly and wondered if this was all some bizarre dream.

Kushina felt her lids closing as A's arm slid around her, his hand no longer gripping her and she felt her limb prickle with the sudden surge of blood as it came through. She watched the steady rise and lower of his chest, heard his heart beat by her ear and let exhaustion take her to that soothing sound.

A was passing in and out of consciousness but was dimly aware of the scent of blood, spices, sweat, tears, and oddly enough…cherries.

S-s-s-S-s-s-S

Kushina's eyes cracked open to the light of day streaming through cracks in her closed blinds and she sighed, nuzzling into her comfy pillow which moved slightly when she did. Her eyes shot open and she sat up to see A, his face peaceful and relax as he lay there before her and she turned to see her son loped over his legs. Naruto gave a little snort before making happy noises to himself and murmuring something before Kushina slid off the bed and shook him.

Naruto sat up suddenly and almost flipped off the bed in shock at the sight of A, who took a deep breath and groaned in his sleep. "Go call the hospital," Kushina whispered but suddenly the detective sat up and looked at her with wide eyes and sweat dribbling down his face. "A!" Kushina said in surprise as he looked around bewildered and tried to stand but failed miserable. He growled in pain and clenched his teeth when he looked at his chest and shoulder.

"Don't…Call…The fuckin' hospital!" He hissed and Kushina stared at him like he was crazy, Naruto inching for the door.

"What?" Kushina shouted as she stared at him in shock, "We should have called them last night! But we both passed out from exhaustion after carrying and treating you!"

"I'm leaving," he growled and moved to stand but this time was shoved back down by Kushina who appeared to be close to completely losing it. She'd watched him with another woman the day she broke up with him no less and he came crawling to her door when he'd been injured and now he was trying to kill himself again!

"What the Hell are you talking about? Look at you!" She almost screamed and she could feel the tears coming as she stood in front of him, looking at his battered form. Kushina clapped her hand over her mouth, her bruised arm exposed and A stopped, looking taken aback when he saw it.

"W – What…Who did that?" He snarled and she looked at him for a moment, her arm lowering to be sheltered and cradled in the other as she turned her gaze for a fraction of a second to his hand. He caught her glance though and his hand flexed where it sat, his chest constricting as he closed his eyes.

Naruto was now in the door way but A pulled Kushina to him, pressing his face into her stomach; she struggled a little but now held him to her like he was some sort of lifeline. "If you want me to die," he murmured against her mid-drift, "than you'll take me to the hospital."

"What!" She said and drew back, her eyes wide as she stared at him and he nodded to her.

"That case I'm working on…The person who shot me last night might be the same one…And he knows I survived that, the first place he would wait would be the hospital," and Naruto gulped in the door way.

"Then we call the police." He growled, brow furrowing and A shook his head at him.

"They wouldn't believe me or you, Madara hasn't been seen for five years at least." And Kushina stopped, her wide eyes gazing at him.

"Madara…That folder…That's why you wanted it back!" And A turned to her and nodded slowly.

"It has information on him…I need it back," he growled as he winced and stood, his teeth grit.

"No," Kushina said backing away from him, "No…I'm – I'm not going to let you kill yourself!"

"Kushina," he whispered, his brow furrowed as he stepped closer to her, "stop this. Just give me what I need and I'll go…All of this was to protect you."

"W – What?" She suddenly looked confused and A nodded, his hand pressed to his shoulder and chest where he'd been shot.

"I apologized to you…I dated you for the sole purpose of protecting you from Madara." He shuddered here but made himself continue…She deserved to know the truth. "Madara was the man who killed your husband and I'm pretty sure the man who shot me last night," he gulped for air and Naruto's eyes grew wide when he spoke. "He was a serial killer but after he killed Minato he stopped…Till recently when we heard that he might have pegged you and him again."

He motioned to Naruto and Kushina's eyes were shadowed, her bottom lip twitching as he turned back to look at her. "But the mission changed…For whatever reason you left me…I started to…To get attached to you." Kushina's loud shudder made him stop and he turned his eyes to the floor, his fist supporting him against her bed railing as she took a deep breath and left the room.

"Kushina!" A tried to follow and got into the door way, Naruto moving away and into the living room to sit down on the couch. The red haired woman grabbed her bag and produced from it a green folder and turned back around to A, holding it in a shaking grip. "Kushina…Please," he whispered but she just shook her head and made her way over to the stove. A followed quickly and grabbed her wrists, stopping her from burning it, "give it back Kushina."

"No – No!" She was literally screaming and Naruto just watched as his mother tried to pull away from him and the folder clattered to the floor. A embraced Kushina, bringing his arms around her tightly as Naruto stood there and watched them and he could feel the tears coming as his mother started to sob. "I – I don't want you to die…l – l – like him! I don't wan – want you to leave m – me alone!" She cried and rubbed her face into his neck and A closed his eyes against the pain that threatened him.

"I'm sorry," he whispered as he held her, wrapping her in a protective embrace and letting her feel the rattle of his heart against his chest, his bare skin was rough but she liked the contrast against her own. She kissed over his heart, her eyes closing as she took in deep breaths and sniffled. His skin was warm and he was alive, his scent rubbing over her with the tang of blood as she kissed his neck, feeling the muscle move under her lips as she choked on another little sob.

"I can't let this go," he whispered and suddenly released her, scooping up the folder as his nerves deadened again. His was cut down the middle but still intact and his leather jacket had holes in it from the bullets and both were stained with his blood. Kushina sat there on her knees, staring down at the ground with wide eyes as he left, the door closing behind him and Naruto stood there in as much shock as she was. And suddenly Kushina stood and made her way to the couch and face planted into the pillow, another little sob wracking her.

_He was shot two times…And yet today…He can get up and walk?_ Naruto thought as he turned to look at his mother over his shoulder, shock and something like fear having kept him glued in place. The pain on Kushina's face made him move for the phone, grabbing it and dialing 911 in seconds, and the _beep_ hung on only for a few seconds.

"What may I help you with?" The operator asked and Naruto gulped, sweat rolling down the side of his face and blood still staining his t-shirt from carrying A to the bed last night.

"An officer just left our house, his name is A and-"he was cut off by the operator who sighed.

"Give me a moment; I'll patch you through to his brother," he said as if it happened every day and as Naruto opened his mouth to speak another voice cut through the line as he was transferred.

"Hello? What the fuck has my idiot bro done this time?" And Naruto felt his eyes grow wide and he breathed deeply, the words stringing together as he spoke. He didn't know if he was saying everything in order but he gave the man the facts, telling him his brother had been shot twice, once in the shoulder and the other on his upper abdomen, left side.

When he was done he stood there and panted, the other end of the receiver going dead for a moment. The man on the other side of the line didn't speak for many long moments and Naruto wondered if during his tirade the man had hung up…But then there was a shaky breath from the other side of the phone.

"Is he still at your house?" Naruto shook his head but then remembered the man couldn't see him, his mind still absorbing all the information and events that had happened.

"No," Naruto replied simply, licking his lips to wet them as he rubbed sweat from his brow and the man took a deep breath and slowly whispered.

"I'll take care of it," and then the line went dead. Naurto gulped, holding the phone in both hands before making his way into the living room and seating himself in the wing back chair that had been his father's. The ceiling fan cooled his skin as he closed his eyes, fatigue setting in as he watched his mother asleep on the couch. Perhaps when he woke up he'd be able to take care of her…

S-s-s-S-s-s-S

A stood in the shower, rubbing away the grime from the night before, and hissing when the water touched the bullet wounds in his body. The pain seared over his shoulder and down his spine, filling his body with that anguish as his chest clenched. He'd left Kushina sitting on that kitchen floor…And he pushed his forehead against the wall of the shower and sniffled, anger still filling him.

The rage be bore for himself was borderline furious and he washed his wounds out and almost roared in pain when he did. Kushina had sanitized them no doubt but they burned like Hell when he touched them, a memory from last night filling his mind. A felt the ghosts of pale fingers run down and along his chest, and then someone touching his face, cool lips brushing over his forehead.

He felt woozy, his eyes un-focusing for a second as he finished washing his hair and staggered out of the stall. A made his way over to the counter and managed to dry himself off, re-wrapping his wounds before pressing his forehead to the wall to cool his warm skin. Panting for a moment he stepped out into his room and heard a loud _bang, bang, bang_ come from the door.

He turned and almost collapsed when he did so, his head spinning slightly he shook his head a little to clear it of the pain. A heard the series of sharp bangs again but moved to his gun holster and grabbed the metal object and it felt rather heavy as he made his way to the door. He looked out the peep hole and stopped when he saw the top of his brother's head.

A closed his eyes slowly and let out a steady breath before moving back into the apartment, sitting his gun down on a table as he heard an angry yell, "I know you're in there! Open up A or I'm breaking a damn window!" A rubbed his face and made his way back to the door, almost tripping over his own feet as he unlocked the door and opened it. He almost wished he hadn't…

Bee's glasses were off – never a good sign – and he was glaring at A with his dark orbs and inwardly A cringed. He'd never seen him this angry in quite awhile… "What. The. Fuck." Bee growled as he stepped inside, slamming the door and facing his older brother who sighed and closed his eyes. A should have been prepared for what happened next…But really…He wasn't.

Bee slapped him across the face and A stood there dumbstruck before he grabbed Bee by the collar with both of his hands. "Damnit Bee, I-"but suddenly he cut off and smashed against the wall as a bought of pain grabbed his skull and he felt sick. Bee stood over him and watched him with wide eyes as he suddenly looked very pale.

Bee knelt down and grabbed his face, his brother's eyes suddenly glazed over as he fought out of Bee's grip, turned his head, and barfed all over the entry way. Bee sat beside him and moved closer to him, rubbing his back, and watching as the sickness left him. "Come on, get up, come on," Bee whispered as he pulled A up and moved him to the sofa.

Bee lay him down and felt his forehead, cursing he went into the kitchen and grabbed an ice pack, pushing it to A's forehead with a gentle hand. A coughed and sputtered and Bee wondered if he was going to be sick again but he just shivered and his teeth chattered. Bee ran to his room and grabbed the blanket, throwing it over him and tucking it around his form.

Bee removed his jacket and sat by him on the coffee table, holding the ice to his head and sighing. A was incoherent and just shuddered, eyes closed and his body slightly rigid. Bee walked into the kitchen and grabbed some water, taking it to his brother and lifting his head up, "drink," he growled and A did. He took it down in gulps before his younger brother took it away and sat it down behind him, rubbing his eyes and sighing.

"I'm gonna get an ambulance," he grumbled but at these words, A grabbed his wrist and shook his head vehemently. He was seeing stars but he coughed and managed to gasp out, his voice cracking and making Bee cringe.

"He'll be…Waiting…there."

"Who?" Bee asked; his brow furrowed as he watched his brother retract his shaking hand and lay it down next to him.

"Madara."

"Bro…You have to let that go! He is not coming after you!" And he stood, making his way to the phone but just as he was about to pick it up it began to ring, several dings sounding through the air. He sighed and picked it up, holding it to his ear, "look my bro will have to call you back he's-"

"Incapacitated? Yes I know," came a voice he didn't know and his brow furrowed, mouth open in a small 'o'.

"Who is this?" There was a long pause and then a dramatized sigh.

"Why aren't you the little fool," the man made a _tsk_ing sound before there was a _clap_, much like a book closing. "This is Madara Uchiha…"

Bee's eyes grew wide and he gulped, mouth closed as he held the phone. His eyes narrowed slightly and he growled, "What do you want?"

There was a chuckle here, a growing icy laugh that made him shiver, "your brother…he interests me you know. Did you ever see that scar? The one over his heart up to his shoulder?" Bee breathed deeply as Madara continued, "That was me." He said it almost gleefully and Bee felt his jaw clench as his face almost twisted into a snarl.

"Stay away from my brother you sonofabitch," he hissed and slammed the phone down, a day many years ago flashing across his vision. A covered in blood and walking through the police HQ doors, Minato under his arm and supporting him as they made their inside. He'd almost caught Madara that day…But it was raining and he was at a construction site, Madara had escaped and almost killed him…But Minato came.

It occurred to Bee that maybe that was the reason he'd killed Minato, because he'd foiled his plans to kill A. Bee stared at the phone, slowly removing his hand from it and noticed that his palm was sweaty. He stepped back into the living room and stared at his brother, passed out on the couch and looking a little worse for wear.

Bee sat down and rested his elbows on his knees and hung his head, his palms running over his scalp as he rocked there. He stopped and then looked up at his older brother, whose eyes were closed as he breathed deeply in sleep. Bee leaned back in the chair and then stopped, walking quickly to the front door and locking it, the soft click calming his nerves slightly.

Bee made his way back into the living room and plopped back down in the chair, watching the heaving chest of his brother as he lay there. He got more water for him and then resumed his post, as if feeling that any minute Madara may try to make a move. The moments passed by like hours and Bee just kept watching him breathe, and somehow that image came back, Minato with A's arm over his shoulders.

Bee shuddered and pressed his head back against the chair before letting out a loud sigh that filled the room. _Why does he want to kill him? What caused this hatred?_ Bee thought as his fingers pinched the bridge of his nose, he knew that A had chased Madara for years but what was the mad man's reason for trying to kill him. Of all the detectives on his case to pinpoint for his wrath…Why did he choose A in the end?

Bee stood and stretched a little bit, making his way to the bathroom to relieve himself. After several moments in the bathroom he returned to his brother and saw something lying on the table next to him. He had been in such a rush that he'd never noticed it till now and he stepped forward to examine it. Fingers tracing the edge of the strange cardboard he opened it and his eyes skimmed over the contents, eyes widening.

_Information on Madara…You bastard_, Bee thought with a furrowed brow as he looked down at A on the couch, _why do you constantly try to do things on your own?_

S-s-s-S-s-s-S

Naruto prepared dinner – instant ramen – as his mother lay on the couch watching some weird anime show about ninja. Picking up the cups he sat them on the tray with two small cans of soda and laid it on the table as he plopped down next to her on the sofa. Placing his hands together with the chopsticks in between, he licked his lips and munched down while Kushina just stared at her cup.

Bags made their way under her eyes, while she looked rather gaunt and Naruto looked at her helplessly. He handed her the cup and she held it in her lap with the chopsticks over the lid and she felt something slide over her cheek and plop into the broth. Naruto embraced her as she cried but didn't sob and she pushed her face into his chest, listening to the light drum there as she hoped for someone else's arms.

Naruto finished his food and cleaned the kitchen, making sure to change the sheets into the drier after he'd bleached and cleaned them. He'd cleaned the bed and had helped his mother to the shower so she could bathe as he did so, and then cleaned himself up after her. Naruto had cleaned away any object that might remind his mother that A had been in the house recently but she still looked ill. He moved to the phone and looked at the recent call list, dialing the numbers, and then pressing send.

The phone rang for a few seconds till a voice came from the other end, "yeah?" The man on the other end sounded tired and even stressed but Naruto felt the need to ask as he walked into his room and closed the door.

"Is this the brother of the detective A?" And there was a long pause.

"Who's asking?"

"Uh…" Naruto stopped and wondered how to respond, "I'm the son of Kushina Uzumaki…Look, she is really upset and I was just wondering how he was doing. My mom…She's not doing so well herself."

There was a long pause before the man spoke, "he has a high fever but he's doing better. Your mom…She sick?"

"No…She's just…" Naruto gave an exasperated sigh, "she doesn't say anything and she's crying a lot. None of this stuff used to happen before she met your brother." He snapped but then realized he may have been out of line, his voice becoming unsteady again as he spoke. "I'm sorry…I just, I'm really…" he took a deep breath and let it out calmly.

The man didn't say anything for a long moment, "I don't appreciate how you're talking about my brother but you may be more in the right than you know." Bee said – choosing not to elaborate – "my name is Bee and A is my older brother…I take it he told you guys what was going on?"

"Yeah," Naruto said and Bee grumbled from the other side of the phone.

"You scared," Bee asked and closed his eyes when he said that but he wanted to know.

"A little," the boy admitted and Bee sighed, closing his eyes.

"Why don't you come over here?" Bee whispered and stopped when he did that. Naruto paused on the other side of the phone and gulped before moving to his mother's room and going into his father's side of the wardrobe. He scrounged around and found a gun holster, his bottom lip jutted out and sweat ran down his face as he stared at it.

"Kid? Kid?" Came the voice over the phone and that tone was enough to snap him from his thoughts as he stared at the heavy black object, fitted into his hands. "Something wrong?" Bee had a feeling what he might be doing and decided to confirm his suspicions, "your father was a detective right? Do you have his gun?"

Naruto gulped and hissed, still staring at the barrel of the gun, "yes."

"Don't even think about it kid, you have no experience with one of those things." Bee said forcefully and Naruto shook as he pressed his forehead to the wood of the wardrobe.

"My mom is hurting because of him; I don't want to take her over there." Naruto whispered and Bee sighed loudly. "I don't want my mom hurting any more than she is now," Naruto went on and Bee watched a point on the wall while he listened to the boy on the other side of the phone.

"Look kid, you don't have any experience with a gun…And I can protect the both of you! Just don't do it, besides…Madara may already know where you live!" Bee's voice was forceful as he looked at his brother, hurt and battered on the couch. "Please…Just come over her…And bring the gun," Bee added and hung up the phone. He prayed to any and all gods' that the kid would just listen to him and bring his mother regardless…

S-s-s-S-s-s-S

Naruto watched his mother get dressed, her red hair still soft and smooth as he helped her comb it. "Mom…Are you sure you want to do this?" He asked, his brow furrowed as he watched her stand and give him that weak smile.

"Yes," she whispered and Naruto nodded. He made his way over to the wardrobe and pulled the gun out – holster and all – and strapped it on. Naruto walked into his mother's closet and grabbed a white leather jacket with red flames along the bottom, gulping as he slipped it on. It fit him perfectly, as if it were made for him, and as he stepped out of the closet his mother's eyes widening on him.

"Naruto…" she said and watched her son smile at her like his father would, bubbly and happy.

"Ready to go?" And she nodded as he moved over to her and helped her stand, making their way out to the car. He drove them to the location Bee had told him, making his way there in only fifteen minutes, the car speeding over the road with his mother beside him. Their hands interlocked on the arm rest as he turned and stopped at a red light.

They had packed a little bit in a paper bag in the backseat but Kushina wouldn't bring it in when they first got there, and hoped that they could go home soon. Naruto did too…He didn't want to see his mother suffer when she saw him. As they pulled into a parking space, tears streaked from her eyes but she soon gulped down her sorrow and exited the car with her son.

She stood behind him as he knocked on the apartment door with the back of his knuckles and she felt like she was watching Minato leave for work…And the door opened to reveal a dark skinned man – shorter than A, but no less muscled it seemed – with a white shirt on and blue jeans. His whole body froze in the doorway as he stared at Naruto, his dark eyes wide as he took in that blonde hair and those blue eyes.

"M – Minato?" He said as he gawked at the young man, who was even wearing the blonde man's signature leather jacket. The boy smiled, some of his teeth showing as he gazed at the older man.

"Sorry…I'm just his son, Naruto." And Bee looked taken aback, shaking his head of the memory as he nodded to himself, stepping back so they could enter.

"Sorry, I just…I mean you look so much…Wow," it was almost ridiculous the resemblance and it felt like a blast from the past when the young man had faced him. "Yeah this is A's place," Bee said as they entered the living room and Naruto looked around with wide eyes at the patches on the walls and the still yet to be filled in holes.

"Yeah…Uh…That was uh…An accident," Bee explained, his hand rubbing the back of his head while sweat rolled down the side of his face. Naruto turned to his mother and the woman was staring straight ahead and didn't even look at A, who lay on the couch. Bee walked forward and slowly tugged her into another room, away from the man lying on the sofa and Naruto looked at him with slightly wide eyes.

The young blonde walked over to the man and touched his fingers to his forehead and retracted it quickly, waving his hand in the air to rid of the heat. Bee re-entered the room and walked over to plop down in a chair not far from the couch and Naruto looked at him. "Why can't we take him to the hospital?"

"Madara," Bee answered and Naruto visibly tensed, his hands clenching at his sides. "Did you bring the gun?" The older man asked and Naruto slowly nodded, Bee holding out his hand a moment later, and Naruto shook his head. Bee raised a brow and Naruto pulled back the jacket to reveal the weapon hidden there.

"My father said he would give this to me when I was old enough because he said I'd need it…I need it now. I need to protect my mother, I keep my gun…You keep yours." And Bee felt his jaw twitch at the statement but for some reason he could find it in himself to argue with the boy and just shook his head.

"You even fired one of those things before?" He asked and Naruto gulped but shook his head.

"There's a first for everything," he whispered and Bee sighed, linking his fingers together and his elbows resting on the arm rests of the chair.

"Fine…But when A starts moving around again don't let him know you have it." Bee said as he stood, dusting himself off, "he'll take it from you in a blink."

Naruto watched him enter the kitchen as he stood there and nodded, thinking to take off the jacket but didn't. It had this strange scent on it…A musky sort of clean smell that reminded him of something from a long time ago…

**12:38 at night…**

Naruto lie on the floor, the coffee table pushed out and a sleeping bag laid out on the floor for him. Bee was sleeping somewhere across the room in his own bag while A had the couch and Kushina had the bed. Naruto slowly sat up and looked around the room before standing and rubbing the back of his head with a yawn.

He moved into the kitchen and grabbed a glass of water when he heard A cough on the couch, the man giving a groan of something like pain. Naruto made his way back into the living area and looked down at A, the moonlight filtering through the blinds to fall over the upper part of his face. His eyes seemed to glow and so did his hair, the blonde locks turning a sort of strange silver under the light of the moon.

A stirred and looked at him, eyes widening as he choked and sputtered. "M – Minato?" He seemed rather delusional and Naruto almost called for Bee but suddenly the man grabbed his shirt, near his stomach and the boy almost went down to his knees. Naruto caught himself and stared into the dark eyes of the detective as he gasped out, tears coming down his cheeks, "I – I'm sorry."

Naruto's brow furrowed as he stared at him and gulped, his voice coming out in a barely audible whisper, "why?"

"I – I," his body shuddered as he gulped for air, "It was my fault…You…You died…I…Why did you save me that day?" Naruto's eyes widened and his lower lips trembled as he gulped and shook his head.

"I…I don't know what you mean," he whispered and A shook his head and gulped. The detective seemed to try and smile but the blonde saw the pain in his eyes.

"Minato…heh…I just…I'm sorry." His eyes rolled back into his head and Naruto paused there for a second as his grip slackened and he withdrew. There was a long pause when he stood there and his heart roared in his ears and he watched the man below him, his head back and he took a deep breath.

"My dad…" Naruto whispered, "He would want my mom to be happy," he took a shaky breath, his hands clenched as he closed his eyes. He shook his head and let out a low laugh, opening his blue orbs to view A's face, "even if it meant being with a man like you…I guess." Naruto didn't know how much longer he stood there before he lie back down and closed his eyes.

S-s-s-S-s-s-S

R&R please!


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